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COL.  MARINUS  WILLETT 


THE  HERO  OF  MOHAWK  VALLEY. 


AN    ADDRESS    BEFORE    THE 


/  Oneida  Historical  Society. 

>•«-«— •*» 


BY    DAHIEL    E.    WAGER. 


UTICA,  N.  Y. 

PRINTED  FOR  THE  SOCIETY, 

BY  THE  UTICA  HERALD  PUBLISHING  COMPANY. 
1891. 


W7VVa 


COL.    MARINUS    WILLETT. 


^  Among  the  objects  and  purposes  for  which  the  Oneida  Historical 
Society  is  organized,  are  the  collection  and  preservation  of 
materials  relative  to  that  part  of  New  York  formerly  known  as 
Tryon  county.  Within  the  scope  of  this  organization  is  the 
.gathering  of  scant  and  scattered  materials,  and  weavino-  them  into 
a  narrative  relative  to  the  lives  of  those  who  have  bee^prominent 
and  foremost  in  the  important  and  critical  period  of  the  existence 

>f  the  county,  and  by  their  valor,  patriotism  and  masterly  activity 
made  the  valley  of  the  Mohawk  historic  ground,  and  0-iven  to  it  a 
national  importance  in  the  history  of  the  country.  °Of  all  the 
persons  who  have  contributed  to  this  grand  result,  I  think  I  am 
safe  in  saying  no  one  stands  out  more  conspicuously  than  Col 
Marim,S  Willett.  It  may  be  considered  a  fortunate  conclusion 
that  the  gathering  of  materials  for  a  sketch  of  his  life  should  be 
no  longer  postponed,  for  it  is  evident  that  each  year's  delay  lessens 
the  chances  and  increases  the  difficulties  of  obtaining  information 
not  already  recorded  in  the  well  known  histories  of  the  times 
especially  facts  which  can  now  be  found  only  in  unpublished  manu 
scripts,  or  in  the  memory  of  living  witnesses. 

In  my  correspondence  and  inquiries  for  facts'  I  luckily  ascertained 

^  n  T  ™°uMy  kn°Wn  t0  blU  a  c°mP"»tively  few,  that  two  sons 

Col.  Willett  are  yet  alive,  the  one  eighty-six  a,,d  the  other 

near  y  eighty-eight  years  of  age,  with  bright  minds  and  unclouded 

ntellects,  who  were  able  to  impart  much  valuable  information 

concermng  their  father,  which  but  for  their  retentive  memories  and 

mely  aid  might  have  soon  passed  into  hopeless  oblivion 

Aside  from  the  "narrative"  of  Col.  Willett,  written  or  dictated 

"Minly,    ,      not    entirely  by  himself    after   he    had   Attained    hi, 

seventieth  birthday,  and  published  in  ]831,  the  next  year  after  his 

leath,  by  the  elder  of  the  two   sons  aforementioned,  there  is  no 

authentic  sketch  of  his  life  extant.     That  "  narrative  "  makes  no 

•  tion  of  his  civil  career,  which  was   quite   a  prominent   one  in 

New  York,  after  the  close  of  the  revolutionary  war,  but  has 

erence  mainly  to  some  of  the  more  important  military  events 

i  which  he  was  connected;  and  even  as  to  those,  with  the 


?N 

<£*- 


2  COL.    MA  BINDS    WILLETT. 

becoming  modesty   of    a    true   soldier,  but   a  brief    narration   is- 
given. 

But  a  few  copies  of  that  "  narrative  "  are  in  existence,  and  those 
very  difficult  to  be  obtained.  The  details  are  too  scant  and  meager 
to  satisfy  the  longings  of  those  who  wish  to  know  more  of  Col. 
Willett's  life  and  character — specially  those  of  Tryon  county, 
wherein  he  achieved  his  greatest  victories,  and  won  his  grandest 
triumphs.  So,  too,  the  histories  of  the  stirring  times  in  which 
Col.  Willett  lived  have  not  the  space  to  do  more  than  to  mention 
incidentally,  or  briefly  narrate  the  more  prominent  events  of  the 
stormy  period  of  his  life.  Hence,  it  has  been  no  easy  matter, 
though  to  me  a  very  pleasurable  occupation,  to  glean  from  the 
various  and  widely  separated  fields  of  his  active  labors  materials 
for  a  paper  that  will  be  full  and  accurate,  and  do  justice  to  his 
merits  and  memory,  and  worthy  of  preservation  in  the  archives  of 
this  society. 

Thomas  Willett,  the  first  one  of  that  family  name  who  crossed 
the  Atlantic  to  make  his  home  in  this  western  world,  was  born  in 
England,  where  his  father  and  grandfather  had  been  ministers  of 
the  gospel.  He  came  in  the  good  ship  Lion  in  1632,  when  he  was 
but  twenty -two  years  of  age,  and  settled  in  the  Plymouth  colony, 
not  far  from  the  State  line  of  Rhode  Island.  The  records  in  that 
colony  frequently  mention  his  name,  and  furnish  evidence  that  he 
became  a  porson  of  wealth  and  prominence.  In  his  young  man 
hood  he  was  a  surveyor  of  highways,  captain  of  a  military  com 
pany,  and  held  other  similar  positions.  He  engaged  in  mercantile 
pursuits ;  was  interested  in  sea-going  vessels ;  owned  large  tracts 
of  land,  one  of  which  was  formed  into  a  township  by  the  name  of 
"Swansea,"  In  1650,  while  a  merchant  of  Plymouth,  he  was 
appointed  by  Peter  Stuyvesant,  then  the  Dutch  colonial  executive 
of  New  York,  one  of  the  boundary  commissioners,  to  settle  the 
disputed  line  between  the  English  and  Dutch.  That  line  was 
adjusted,  and  has  passed  into  history  as  the  "  Hartford  boundary 
treaty  of  1650."  After  the  English  came  into  power  in  New 
York,  Capt.  Willett  was  appointed  one  of  the  councilors  of  that 
colony,  and  held  that  office  from  1665  to  1673.  In  1667  he  was 
appointed  by  the  English  governor,  Richard  Nichols,  the  first 
English  mayor  of  New  York,  from  which  it  would  appear  he  had, 
in  the  meantime,  become  a  resident  of  the  metropolis.  When  the 
Dutch,  in  1673,  regained  ascendency  in  New  York,  the  property 
of  Thomas  Willett  was  confiscated;  he  died  the  next  year,  at  the  age 


ADDTCESS    OF    D.    E.    WAGER. 


sixty-four  years,  and  bis  remains  were  buried  at  East  Providence  in 
Rhode  Island.  At  page  59  of  Lossing's  history  of  the  Empire 
State,  a  fac  simile  of  Thomas  Willett's  signature  can  be  found. 
He  was  the  great  grandfather  of  Col.  Marinus  Willett,  whose 
name  and  fame  are  so  closely  and  dearly  associated  with  the 
history  of  Tryon^ounty,  during  the  stormy  period  of  the  revolu 
tionary  struggle. 

Edward  Willett  (the  father  of  Col.  Willett,)  was  a  Quaker  and 
a  farmer  of  moderate  means,  near  Jamaica,  on  Long  Island;  at 
that  homestead  Marinus  was  born  on  July  31,  1740,  (old  style.) 
He  was  the  second  son  and  child  in  a  family  of  thirteen  children— 
the  same  number  that  was  born  unto  his  great  grandfather  afore 
mentioned.     That  father  died  in  J794,  at  the  age  of  ninety-four 
years,  and,  although  he  belonged  to  a  denomination  that  was  on 
principle,  opposed  to  war,  yet  he  was  destined  to  see  two  of  his 
sons,  before  they  were  eighteen,  enter  the  military  service  of  their 
country,  and  the  one  to  become  a  prominent  leader;  the  other  to 
be  a  lieutenant  on  an  English   privateer,  and  the  vessel  on  which 
he  was  engaged  swept  away  in  a  hurricane  in  the  French  war  of 
1758,  and  all  on  board  lost  at  sea.     Marinus,  until  he  was  nearly 
eighteen  years  of  age,  pursued  the  quiet  and  peaceful  pursuits  of 
a  farm  life  at  his  father's  homestead.     About  that  period  of  his 
life,  he  was  moved  by  a  spirit  of  self-reliance  to  leave  the  paternal 
roof    and    provide   for   himself.     With    a    resolute  will    and    a 
letermmed  spirit,  and  with  only  twenty  shillings  in  his  pocket,  he 
crossed  over  to  New  York  to  seek  in  that  great  city  employment, 
and,  it  possible,  make  his  fortune.     It  was  about  the  time  of  the 
French  war  of  1758,  when  the  colonists  were  greatly  excited  by 
reason  of   raising  of  troops,  and  the  activity  of  the  contending 
forces.     In  the  early  spring  of  that  year,  three  English  expedition^ 
were  being  fitted  out,  with  a  view  to  attack  the  French  at  different 
points,  and  drive  them  out  of  this  country.     One  of  those  expedi 
tions,  and  in  which  New  York  took   the  greatest  interest,  was 
under  the  command  of  General  Abercrombie,  and  to  be  led  by 
him  from  Albany  to  lakes  George  and  Champlain  to  attack  Fort 
Iiconderoga,  then  garrisoned  by  4,000  troops  under  Montcalm  a 
a  field  marshal  of  France.     Here  were  to  be  raised  in  the  vicinity 
New  York  three  battalions  of  900  men  each,  to  be  under  the 
command   of    Col.    Oliver   DeLancey,  a   brother   of    the  acting 
governor  of  New  York. 

It  required  no   great  effort   to  raise  the  requisite  number  of 


4  COL.    MARINUS    WILLETT. 

troops,  for  the  whole  country  was  in   commotion,  and  the   people 
running  over  with  enthusiasm.     Young  Willett  caught  the  prevail 
ing  spirit  of  the  times  and,  following  his   own   ambition   and  the 
example  of  others,  he  enlisted  in  the  army  and  raised  a  company 
of  soldiers  on  Long  Island  among  his  neighbors  and  acquaintances. 
Through   the  influence  of  friends,  he  was  appointed  second  lieu 
tenant  of  his  company,  and,  although  not  then  eighteen  years  old, 
he  was  as  full  of  patriotism  and   spirit  as  those  of  maturer  years. 
In  his  "narrative"  is  the  following  description  of  the  uniform  he 
wore  on  receiving  his  commission  as  lieutenant,  viz.  :  "  Green  coat 
trimmed  with  silver  twist;  whitg  under  clothes  and  black  gaiters, 
a  cocked  hat  with  large  black  cockade  of  silk  ribbon,  with  silver 
button  and  loop."     The  three  battalions  were  raised,  and  the  first 
week  in   May  the  troops  left  New  York  in   sloops,  ascended  the 
Hudson  to  Albany,  thence  marched  overland  to  Schenectady,  and 
for  two  weeks  were  employed  in  patroling  the  Mohawk  to  watch 
the   settlements   and   prevent   an    attack  from  the  French,  if  one 
fihould   be   made  in  that  quarter.     Orders  then  came  to  march  to 
Lake  George,  where  they  arrived  the  fore  part  of  June,  and  found 
that   active  preparations  were  there  going   forward   to  cross  the 
lake.     The  last  of  the  month  Gen.  Abercrombie  arrived,  but  the 
soul  of  the  expedition   and  the  idol  of  the  army  was  young  Lord 
Howe,  then  thirty-four  years  of  age;  young  Willett  has  left  on 
record  his  high  appreciation  of  the  ability  and  soldierly  qualities 
of  that  gallant  officer.     Soon  after  daybreak  on  Sunday,  July  5th, 
the  whole  army,  16,000  strong,  embarked  in  1,000  boats,  to  cross 
Lake  George,  from  its  southern  extremity,  to  its  northerly  shore. 
The  day  was  bright  and  clear,  the  soldiers  were  clad  in  their  scarlet 
coats,  and  as  this  armament  floated  upon  the  glassy  surface  of  this 
inland  sea,   accompanied    by  martial    music,  while   ensigns   and 
banners  floated  in  the  breeze   and   glittered  in  the  sunbeams,  it 
looked  more  like  a  holiday  occasion  than  an  army  going  to  battle. 
At  dawn  the  next  morning,  the  troops  landed  at  the  north  end 
of   the  lake,  some  four  or    five  miles   from    Fort    Ticonderoga, 
and  while  reaching  the  shore,  had  a  slight  skirmish  with  the  occu 
pants  of   a  French   outpost  at  that  point,  in   which  a  couple  of 
Frenchmen  were  killed.     A  few  of  the  Stockbridge  tribe  of  Indians 
accompanied  this  expedition,  and  as  soon  as  they  saw  the  two  dead 
soldiers  they  rushed  forward  and  secured  their  scalps.     This  was 
young  Willett's  first  experience  in  witnessing  the  scalping  process, 
but  those  scenes  became  familiar  to  him  later  in  life.     Ttie  country 


ADDRESS    OF    D.    E.    WAGER.  U 

between  Lake  George  and  Fort  Ticonderoga  was  covered  by  a 
dense  forest  and  tangled  morasses;  the  troops  formed  in  good 
order,  and  commenced  marching  by  columns  through  the  woods. 
Lord  Howe  led  the  advance  guard,  near  whom  was  the  regiment 
in  which  young  Willett  marched,  moving  forward  to  exposed 
points  of  danger  and  expecting  every  moment  to  fall  into  an  am 
bush  or  to  be  met  by  a  strong  French  force.  The  eve  of  battle  is 
always  one  of  breathless  anxiety,  especially  to  those  who  have 
never  been  in  an  engagement  or  witnessed  one.  This  was  Willett's 
first  experience,  and  he  has  left  an  account  of  his  feelings  on  this 
occasion ;  he  states  that  he  did  rjot  at  this  time,  nor  ever  subse 
quently  in  his  life,  experience  the  slightest  degree  of  fear,  but  on 
the  contrary  he  was  quite  elated,  and  his  spirits  highly  exhilarated 
as  the  crisis  approached.  The  troops  had  not  proceeded  two  miles 
before  an  ambush  was  discovered  near  where  young  Willett  was 
marching.  A  sharp  engagement  ensued  and  Lord  Howe  was  soon 
to  the  front  rallying  and  cheering  his  men,  when  he  was  struck  by 
a  bullet  and  instantly  killed.  The  French  were  dispersed,  but  the 
sudden  death  of  Howe  threw  his  troops  into  confusion  and  disorder^ 
There  then  seemed  to  be  no  leader  or  any  one  to  issue  orders. 
The  troops  wandered  about  following  incompetent  guides,  crossing 
each  other's  track,  and  firing  at  their  own  friends,  mistaking  them, 
for  the  foe.  While  thus  moving  Willett  and  his  companions 
accidentally  fell  in  with  Gen.  Abercrombie,  who  stood  under  a 
huge  tree,  with  a  large  cloak  wrapped  about  him,  while  two  regi 
ments  of  regular  troops  were  drawn  up  around  his  person  to  guard 
and  protect  him  from  harm.  He  issued  no  orders  and  the  troops 
continued  to  wander  the  rest  of  the  day,  lost  and  bewildered  in  the 
woods.  As  night  overtook  them,  they  halted  and  rested  until 
morning;  on  awaking  it  was  found  that  most  of  the  men  had 
encamped  near  the  spot  where  they  had  landed  from  the  boats  the 
morning  before. 

It  was  afternoon  before  the  army  was  again  in  motion  for  Fort 
Ticonderoga,  and  when  three  miles  from  the  fort,  they  halted  and 
passed  another  night  in  the  woods.  The  next  day,  which  was  the 
8th  of  July,  the  army  again  started  on  its  march  for  the  fort,  and 
about  noon  was  re-enforced  by  six  hundred  Indians  under  the 
command  of  Sir  William  Johnson.  But  the  want  of  a  leader  and 
competent  guides  had  not  been  supplied.  The  same  confusion, 
disorder  and  bewilderment  prevailed,  and  before  the  troops  were 
aware  of  it,  or  knew  the  danger  they  were  in,  they  became  en- 


6  COL.    MA  KIN  US    WILLETT. 

tangled  in  a  network  of  fallen  trees,  and  found  they  were  directly 
under  the  enemy's  breastworks,  and  exposed  to  a  murderous  fire. 
For  four  or  five  hours  the  battle  raged,  to  the  great  disadvantage 
of  the  British  troops,  and  it  was  not  until  sunset  the  firing  ceased, 
and  the  latter  retired  to  spend  another  night  in  the  forest,  expect 
ing  to  renew  the  attack  the  next  day,  before  daylight. 

The  next  morning  Lieut.  Willett  was  awakened  'from  a  sound 
sleep  and  told  that  the  army  was  rapidly  making  its  way  to  their 
boats,  with  a  view  to  recross  the  lake.  About  eight  that  morning 
the  troops  re-embarked,  and,  although  there  was  no  enemy  near, 
great  confusion  and  disorder  prevailed,  and  this  expedition,  which, 
three  days  before,  came  with  such  pomp  and  splendor,  returned  in 
disgrace,  leaving  behind  it,  killed  and  wounded,  some  two  thousand 
of  its  numbers.  No  doubt  Gen.  Abererombie  felt  much  safer 
when  he  had  put  thirty-eight  miles  of  Lake  George  between  him 
self  and  Montcalm. 

In  that  expedition  were  two  other  persons  prominent  in  the 
history  of  New  York,  and  who  have  been  more  or  less  connected 
with  affairs  in  Tryon  county.  The  one  was  Gen.  Philip  Schuyler, 
whose  name  was  given  to  Fort  Stanwix  during  a  portion  of  the 
revolutionary  war;  the  other,  Gen.  John  Bradstreet,  a  prominent 
officer  in  the  colonial  service,  and  who  was,  for  years,  part  owner 
of  Cosby's  manor,  which  includes  the  site  of  Utica,  and  whose 
widow,  by  another  marriage,  was  grandmother  to  that  Martha 
Bradstreet  who  made  her  name  famous,  not  only  by  reason  of  her 
legal  and  other  abilities,  but  by  the  long,  tedious  and  expensive 
litigation  which,  over  half  a  century  ago,  she  inflicted  upon  Uticans 
and  others,  regarding  their  land  titles.  Gen.  Bradstreet  was  but 
a  major  in  that  expedition,  yet  he  burned  with  indignation  because 
of  ite  shameful  failure.  At  a  council  of  war  held  at  the  head  of 
the  lake  the  very  evening  the  troops  returned  from  Ticonderoga, 
he  urged  the  adoption  of  measures  that  would  tend  to  wipe  out  or 
relieve  the  disgraceful  blunder.  He  suggested  an  expedition 
against  Fort  Frontenac  (now  Kingston,)  and  offered  to  lead  it. 
Some  looked  upon  such  an  undertaking  as  wild  and  chimerical, 
and  its  successful  execution  improbable,  for  it  was  considered  a 
strong  fortress  for  those  times,  well  supplied  with  men,  cannon 
and  ammunition;  but  Bradstreet  urged  his  offer  with  so  much 
earnestness  that  Gen.  Abererombie  at  last  reluctantly  consented  to 
commission  him  to  go  and  take  with  him  three  thousand  troops. 
Among  the  number  was  young  Willett  and  the  regiment  to  which 


ADDRESS    OF    D.    E.    WAGER. 

lie  belonged.     The  destination  was  kept   secret  from  all   but  the 
leading  officers.     They  started  the  next  day  and  were  moved  with 
greatest    rapidity   to   Albany,  thence   to   the  Mohawk,  and  they 
"fairly  flew,"  as  it  is  said,  up  the  river  in  boats,  to  the  "  Oneida 
carrying  place,"  now  the  site  of  Rome.     And  here  let  me  add,  by 
way  of  parenthesis,  that  besides  Schuyler  and  Willett,  who  accom 
panied  Gen.  Bradstreet  to  Fort  Frontenac,  were  many  others  who 
subsequently  became  noted  in  the  history  of  this  country.     Among 
them  Nathaniel  Wood  hull,  then  a  major,  subsequently  a  general  in 
the  revolutionary  army,  and  the  first  president  of  the  provincial 
congress.     Horatio  Gates,  then  a  captain  and  in  the  revolutionary 
war  a  brigadier  general,   and   who   captured    Burgoyne    and  his 
army;  Col.  Charles  Clinton,  then  stationed  at  Fort  Herkimer,  and 
near  seventy  years  of  age ;  also  his  two  sons,  James  Clinton,  then 
a  captain  and  twenty-two   years   old,  afterward  a  general,  and  his 
brother   George,   then    nineteen    years    old,   and    afterwards    for 
twenty-five  years  governor  of  New  York;  the  great  war  governor 
of  the  infant  State.     Although  Gen.  Bradstreet  moved  his  men  up 
the  valley  with  great  celerity,  yet  it  took  two  weeks'  time  for  the 
men  to  pole  the  boats  up  the  river  to  the  "carrying  place."     On 
reaching  this   portage,   Gen.   John  Stanwix   was   found    with  six 
thousand  troops,  having  been  previously  ordered  there  to  erect  a 
formidable  fort  in  the  place  of  Forts  Williams,  Craven  and  Bull, 
destroyed  two  years  before.     The  first  two  named  forts  had  stood 
upon  the  banks   of  the  Mohawk,  below  the  bend  of  that   river,  a 
little  further  down  stream  than  the  present  railroad  bridge.     Fort 
Bull  was  upon  the  lower  landing  of  Wood   Creek,  some   two  or 
three   miles    to    the    westward    of   Forts    Craven    and    Williams. 
Across  this  portage   Bradstreet   transported    his   men,  boats  and 
munitions  of  war  and  stores.     A  dam  was  constructed  across  Wood 
Creek,  at  the  upper  landing  near  the  late  United  States  arsenal,  to 
raise  the  water  of  that  stream,  to  aid  in  floating  the  loaded  boats 
to  Oneida  Lake.    T\vo   weeks'  time  was  occupied  in  making  these 
preparations,  and  in  removing  the  fallen  trees  and  other  obstruc 
tions  from  the  creek.     These  movements  indicated  to  the   troops 
the  direction  of  the  expedition.     The  troops  started  August  14  and 
in  six  days  Oswego  was  reached;  after  resting  there   for  a   few 
hours  to  repair  the  boats,  inspect  the  arms  and  accoutrements,  the 
troops  were  again  on  their  way  passing  over  the  lake,  but  keeping 
near  shore.     On  the  third    day  after  leaving   Oswego,  the  troops 
landed  on  the  evening  of  the  25th,  about  two  miles  from  the  fort, 


r  COL.    MAE1NUS    WILLETT, 

and  the  next  day  commenced  active  preparations  to  take  it  byr 
storm.  The  fort  was  a  square  one,  fifteen  feet  high,  built  of  ston& 
and  nearly  three-fourths  of  a  mile  in  circumference,  and  well  pro 
tected  by  cannon;  the  garrison  had  no  intimation  of  the  approach 
of  an  enemy,  until  the  British  troops  appeared  before  the  fortress* 
Breastworks  were  erected  to  protect  the  assailants,  and  Willett 
was  much  of  the  time  in  exposed  points  of  danger,  and  one  entire 
night  he  and  his  men  were  under  a  constant  tire  of  grape  shot  and 
musketry.  The  siege  was  continued  for  three  days,  and  on  the 
29th  of  August  the  garrison  surrendered ;  the  capture  included 
sixty  cannon,  sixteen  mortars,  a  vast  amount  of  small  arms,  a  large 
quantity  of  powder  and  balls  of  all  sorts,  nine  vessels  and  about 
one  hundred  men.  The  magazine  was  blown  up,  the  buildings 
destroyed,  and  the  whole  fortress  reduced  to  a  heap  of  rubbish. 
The  captured  vessels  were  used  to  transport  the  stores  to  Oswego, 
and  there  burned  to  the  water's  edge.  The  capture  of  this  fort 
was  considered  at  the  time,  as  one  of  the  greatest  blows  inflicted 
upon  the  French  in  America,  considering  the  consequences,  as  that 
fort  was  the  storehouse  from  which  other  forts  to  the  south  were 
supplied.  It  reflected  great  credit  upon  Bradstreet  and  his  men,, 
although  it  involved  incessant  toil,  great  fatigue  and  hardship,  and 
a  great  sacrifice  of  human  life.  When  Oswego  Falls  (now  Fulton) 
was  reached  by  the  troops  4on  their  return  from  Oswego,  it  took 
the  men  three  days  to  drag  the  boats  and  stores  over  that  portage 
of  a  mile,  and  so  excessive  was  the  labor,  and  so  great  the  fatigue 
and  exposure  of  the  men  in  the  whole  expedition  that  near  one 
hundred  deaths  occurred  at  that  point,  and  when  Fort  Bull  was 
reached  half  of  the  men  were  unfit  for  duty.  It  required  four 
days  to  transport  the  boats  and  stores  from  Wood  Creek  across 
the  portage  at  Rome,  to  the  Mohawk,  and  by  that  time  the  men 
were  completely  exhausted^  Smith's  Colonial  History  of  New 
York  says  that  five  hundred  men  died  and  were  buried  at  this 
"carrying  place."  The  cause  of  these  deaths  and  sickness,  is 
attributed  to  the  stagnant  water  of  Wood  Creek,  the  exposure  and 
fatigue  of  the  men,  and  the  haste  in  cooking  the  food. 

The  expedition  on  its  return,  reached  Fort  Stanvvix  September 
10,  and  that  very  night  young  Willett  was  taken  ill  and  confined 
to  his  tent  until  November  by  a  dangerous  illness.  As  before 
stated,  that  was  the  season  Fort  Stanwix  was  constructed.  The 
work  was  commenced  August  23  and  completed  November  15^ 
1758.  It  was  a  square  work,  bounded  by  what  are  now  Dominick,. 


ADDRESS    OF    D.    E.    WAGER. 


a 


Spring  and  Liberty  streets,  and  was  about  20  rods  westerly  from 
the  Mohawk.  It  was  surrounded  by  a  deep,  wide  ditch,  with  long 
pickets  in  the  center,  sharpened  at  the  top,  and  a  row  of  horizontal 
ones  projected  from  the  embankment.  It  was  among  the  most 
formidable  structures  of  the  times  and  cost  the  British  govern 
ment  over  8266,000. 

After  Lieutenant  Willett  partially  recovered  his  health  and 
strength  he  was  put  in  a  boat  and  taken  down  the  river  to  Schen- 
ectady;  thence  overland  to  Albany  where  he  remained  until 
December  1.  The  ice  in  the  meantime  having  left  the  Hudson,  ho 
went  down  that  river  in  a  boat  and  reached  New  York  the  7th  of 
December,  just  seven  months  to  a  day  from  the  time  he  had  It  ft 
that  city  in  such  good  health  and  high  spirits  to  join  Abercrom- 
bie's  expedition.  His  feeble  health  and  the  wishes  of  his  friends 
prevented  his  taking  any  further  part  in  the  war.  In  fact,  that 
war  was  near  its  close,  for  the  success  of  the  British  arms  the 
next  year,  the  taking  of  Quebec  in  September,  witnessed  the 
culminating  genius  and  crowning  glory  of  Wolfe,  and  the  valor 
and  heroic  death  of  Montcalm,  and  practically  put  an  end  to 
French  domination  on  this  continent. 

I  have  not  learned  the  occupation  of  Col.  Willett  between  the 
close  of  the  French  war  and  the  commencement  of  the  revolution. 
The  eldest  son  writes  me,  that  he  never  heard  it  mentioned,  but 
that  when  he  w^as  a  lad,  a  piece  of  household  furniture  was 
pointed  out  in  the  dwelling  as  the  workmanship  of  his  father, 
which  leads  to  the  inference  that  Col.  Willett  might  have  been  a 
cabinetmaker  in  his  early  manhood  ;  but  nothing  further  has  been 
ascertained.  Certain  it  is,  however,  that  in  whatever  vocations  he 
engaged,  he  was  always  abreast  of  the  times  and  kept  himself 
well  informed  as  to  politics  and  the  current  events  of  the  day,  and 
was  ever  found  arrayed  on  the  side  of  freedom  and  the  rights  of 
man. 

In  1765  occurred  the  popular  and  universal  outbreak  in  the 
colonies,  caused  by  the  threatened  enforcement  of  the  odious  stamp 
act;  but  for  the  timely  repeal  of  that  law,  the  revolutionary 
conflict  in  the  colonies,  might  have  been  precipitated  ten  years 
sooner  than  it  was.  In  October,  1765,  while  a  colonial  congress  of 
delegates  was  in  session  in  New  York  city,  a  vessel  arrived  in 
port,  bringing  the  obnoxious  stamps.  The  law  was  to  go  into 
effect  November  1.  The  stamps  were  unloaded  from  the  vessel 
and  hurriedly  conveyed  to  and  lodged  in  the  fort  in  that  city,  then. 


10  COL.    MAKITsUS    WILLETT. 

garrisoned  by  British  troops.  A  body  of  men  called  "The  Sons 
of  Liberty  "were  organized  and  among  the  prominent  leaders, 
was  young  Marinus  Willett,  then  twenty-five  years  old.  When  it 
was  known  the  stamps  had  arrived  and  lodged  in  the  fort,  the 
whole  city  was  in  commotion  ;  a  large  and  tumultuous  assemblage 
convened  in  the  present  city  hall  park,  a  gallows  was  erected  and 
on  it  was  hung  an  effigy  of  Gov.  Colden.  Another  effigy  of  the 
governor  was  borne  by  an  excited  and  exasperated  crowd  through 
the  streets  to  the  gate  of  the  fort  where  soldiers  were  drawn  up  on 
the  ramparts,  but  dare  not  fire.  The  stamps  were  demanded  of 
the  governor  who  refused  to  give  them  up,  whereupon  his  carriage 
was  seized,  his  effigy  set  upon  it,  the  crowd  marched  to  the  battery, 
spiked  the  cannon  and  there  burned  carriage  and  effigy  to  ashes. 
The  house  of  Major  James,  the  commander  of  the  royal  artillery 
was  attacked  and  gutted  and  the  contents  destroyed  by  fire  and 
the  colors  of  the  regiment  carried  off  by  the  populace.  The  feel 
ing  was  so  intense  and  the  excitement  so  great,  the  collector 
appointed  to  sell  the  stamps  was  afraid  to  act  and  resigned  and 
no  one  dare  use  them.  The  people  were  appeased  by  assurances 
that  the  stamps  should  not  be  used,  and  in  four  months  that  law 
was  repealed,  never  having  been  executed  in  any  of  the  colonies. 
It  was  in  times  like  these  that  young  Willett  took  his  first  lessons 
in  patriotism  and  learned  to  vindicate  the  rights  of  the  people  and 
prepared  himself  as  an  important  factor  in  the  revolutionary  strug 
gle  which  achieved  American  independence. 

On  Sunday,  April  23,  1775,  rumors  spread  through  the  city  of 
New  York  that  there  had  been  a  conflict  between  the  people  and 
the  troops  the  Wednesday  before  at  Lexington  and  Concord.  The 
gale  that  carried  that  news  over  the  land  was  but  the  slightest 
breeze  of  the  approaching  spirit  of  the  storm.  The  feeling  which 
incited  brave  old  Gen.  Putnam  to  unhitch  his  team,  in  the  field 
where  he  was  at  work,  leave  the  plow  in  the  furrow,  mount  his 
liorse  and  tear  along  the  highway  for  one  hundred  miles  to  be 
leaguered  Boston  was  the  same  which  then  spread  itself  into  every 
hamlet  throughout  this  broad  land.  The  people  of  Xew  York 
city,  as  if  moved  by  one  impulse,  proceeded  to  the  arsenal,  forced 
open  the  door,  took  possession  of  six  hundred  muskets  with 
bayonets  and  cartridge  boxes  and  balls,  and  distributed  these  arms 
among  the  most  active  of  the  citizens;  they  formed  themselves 
into  a  committee  of  safety  and  assumed  the  control  of  the  city 
government.  They  took  possession  of  the  custom  house  and  of  all 


ADDRESS    OF    D.    E.    WAGER. 

the  public  stores,  cut  loose  two  transports  at  the  wharf,  emptied 
the  Vessels  laden  with  provisions  for  Boston  of  their  contents, 
seized  the  powder  house,  attempted  to  take  possession  of  the  maga 
zine,  published  a  declaration  that  no  vessel  should  leave  the  fort 
for  Boston;  formed  themselves  into  military  companies  and  paraded 
the  streets,  but  apparently  with  no  definite  object  in  view. 

In  the  midst  of  this  general   commotion  orders  came  from  the 
British   commander   for  the  troops  to  proceed   to   Boston.     The 
execution  of  this  order  could  easily  have  been  prevented,  but  for 
the  timidity  of  some  who  were  afraid  to  provoke  a  collision.     The 
citizens  held  a  meeting  and  agreed  to  allow  the  soldiers  to  depart 
with  their  own  arms   and  accoutrements,  but  nothing  else.     One 
fine  morning  news  spread  like  wildfire  that  the   troops   were  em 
barking  and  were  carrying  off  cartloads  of  chests  of  arms.    Young 
Willeti,  who  was   one  of   the  most  active  of  the  patriots,  started 
out  in   one  direction  to   notify  his   friends   what  was   going  on; 
while  crossing  Broad  street  he  noticed  the  troops   with   five  cart 
loads  of  arms  coming  down  that  street;   without  waiting  for  aid  or 
advice  he  proceeded  up  the  street,  met  the  carts,  took  the  foremost 
horse  by  the  head.     This  brought  things  to  a  halt,  and  the  major 
in  command  came  forward  to  learn  the  cause;  soon  a  crowd  col 
lected,  and  some  of  the  committee  opposed,  and   some   approved 
the  course  cf  young  Willett.     Being  encouraged  and  advised  by 
his  friends  he  mounted  a  cart,  made  a  brief,  stirring  speech  which 
was  loudly   cheered.     He  then  turned  the   head   of  the  forward 
horse  into  another  street,  those  behind  followed,  and  all  of  the  carts 
were  driven  to  a  vacant  lot  and  a  ball  alley  on  John  street,  and 
thus  the  arms  were  prevented  from  leaving  the  city.     Those  arms 
and   those  taken   possession   of  when  the  news   of    the   battle  of 
Lexington    first   reached   the   city   were  used   by  the  first  troops 
raised   in   New  York  under  the  orders  of  Congress.     The  troops 
meeting  with  no  other  obstacle  marched   to  the  wharf  arid  em 
barked  for  Boston  amid  the  hisses  of   an  excited  people.     This 
prompt  and  decided  action  of  the   citizens   struck  dismay  to  the 
hearts  of  the  adherents  of  the  crown,  gave  them  a  foretaste^  of 
what  might  be  expected,  and  at  the  same  time,  made  the  recruiting 
of  troops  for  the  colonies  a  much  easier  task. 

By  order  of  Congress,  the  colony  of  New  York  was  required  to 
raise  four  regiments,  each  to  consist  of  ten  companies  and  each 
company  to  be  composed  of  some  seventy-two  men,  making  about 
3,000  troops  to  be  raised  in  New  York.  Of  this  number  New 


12  COL.    MABINU9    WILLETT. 

York  city  was  to  raise  one  regiment.  Each  regiment  was  to  be- 
commanded  by  a  colonel,  a  lieutenant-colonel  and  a  major. 
Alexander  McDougall  was  colonel  of  the  first  New  York  regiment, 
and  young  Willett  was  appointed  second  captain.  He  received 
his  appointment  June  28,  1775.  He  was  then  in  his  thirty-fifth 
year,  and  as  he  says  in  his  "  narrative,"  his  health,  strength,, 
buoyancy  of  spirit  and  enthusiasm  were  his  principal  qualifications. 
His  company  was  one  of  the  first  recruited  and  ready  to  take  the 
field.  Colonel  Ethan  .Allen,  the  May  preceding,  had  captured 
Ticonderoga  in  "the  name  of  the  Great  Jehovah  and  the  Con 
tinental  Congress,"  and  this  was  considered  the  key  to  the  gate 
way  of  Canada,  and  had  much  to  do  in  turning  the  attention  of 
Congress,  Washington,  General  Schuyler  and  others  in  this 
direction,  as  the  proper  one  for  the  invasion  of  that  province. 
There  was  a  garrison  of  some  500  men  at  St.  Johns  on  this  route 
to  Canada;  another  force  at  Chamblee,  lower  down  the  river,  and 
some  300  tories  and  Indians  at  Montreal,  which  constituted 
about  all  of  the  effective  troops  of  the  British  in  Canada.  It  was< 
believed  all  of  these  places  and  troops  could  be  captured  and 
Canada  thereby  prevailed  upon  to  link  its  fortunes  with  the 
thirteen  colonies.  On  the  8th  of  August,  1775,  Willett  and  his 
men  took  passage  in  a  sloop  up  the  Hudson,  and  reached  Albany 
after  a  passage  of  four  days.  They  were  armed  with  the  muskets 
which  Willett  had  taken  from  the  enemy,  as  before  stated.  At- 
Albany  this  company  was  joined  by  three  other*,  and  there 
reviewed  by  General  Montgomery,  who  was  to  accompany  them.. 
Their  destination  was  Canada,  via  Lake  Champlain.  They  reached 
Ticonderoga  in  the  course  of  two  week?,  and  were  on  the  same 
grounds  occupied  by  Willett  when  he  was  in  the  tirst  battle 
seventeen  years  before.  On  the  29th  of  August  1,000  troops 
under  Gen.  Montgomery  embarked  in  boats,  proceeded  clown  the- 
lake,  and  on  the  4th  of  September  they  were  joined  at  lie  Aux 
Noix,  at  the  foot  of  the  lake,  by  Gen.  Schuyler.  The  6th  they 
proceeded  to  St.  Johns,  but  found  it  too  well  fortified  to  take  it  by 
storm,  with  the  small  force  and  light  guns  of  the  Americans,  and. 
the  next  day  they  returned  to  the  island.  On  the  10th  of  the 
month  Gen.  Montgomery,  with  1,OUO  men,  again  proceeded  to  St. 
Johns,  and  landed  just  at  dusk  two  miles  from  the  fort.  A 
detachment  of  500  men,  with  which  was^ young  Willett,  was  senfc 
below  the  fort  to  cut  oft  the  supplies  of  the  enemy.  This  expedi 
tion,  by  reason  of  the  bad  conduct  of  the  colonel  in  command, 


ADDRESS    OF    D.    E.    WAGER. 

was  unsuccessful,  and  again   the  troops  returned   to  the  island. 
Here  they  remained  for  a  week. 

When  the  American  force  was   augmented   to   2,000   men,  and 
-had   received   an  additional    supply  of    ammunition    and    larger 
guns,  the  army  again   embarked  for  St.  Johns,  under  Gen.  Mont 
gomery,  and  late  in  the  day  landed  at  the  place  where  the   troops 
first  disembarked.     Again  a  detachment  of  500  men  was  ordered 
below  the  fort,  and   this   time   Gen.  Montgomery  accompanied ^it, 
ttnd  it  was  successful  in  taking   position   and  planting  batteries. 
The  siege  slowly  continued,  large  guns  arrived   and  the  garrison 
was   severely  annoyed.     There  was  a    fort    at    Chamblee,  twelve 
miles  from  *St.  Johns,  lower  down   the  River  Sorel,  and   on   the 
•route  to   Canada,  garrisoned   by  about   170   men.     A  detachment 
was  sent  to  lay  siege  to  that   fort,  and  in  lesfc  than  two   days,  on 
•October  18th,  it  surrendered  with  168  men,  seventeen   cannon,  six 
tons  of  powder.     The   colors  of  the   seventh  regiment  were  also 
-captured  and  sent  as  a  trophy  to  Congress.     This  capture  was  of 
great   benefit   to  the  besiegers  of  St.  Johns.     Nevertheless  that 
garrison  held   out  bravely,  but   on  the  3d  of  November,  after  a 
siege  of  fifty  days,  that  fort  surrendered,  and   the  prize  was  500 
regular  troops  and  100  Canadians  (among  whom  were  some  of  the 
French  gentry)  and  a  large  quantity  of  military  stores.     This  was 
indeed    a   great  success  and  was  received  by  Congress  and  the 
country  with  feelings  of  delight;  and  well  it  might,  for  the  troops 
were  raw  and  undisciplined,  the  army  supplies  scant,  the  weather 
«old  and  rainy,  the  grounds  where  the  troops  encamped  damp  and 
unhealthy,  yet,  in    spite    of  all,  a   great   victory  was   achieved. 
Capt.  Willett  was  charged  with  the  duty  of  escorting  the  prisoners 
to  Ticonderoga,  while  Gen.  Montgomery  pushed  on  with  an  armed 
force  to  Montreal.     As  soon  as  the  prisoners  were  safely  placed  in 
Fort  Ticonderoga,  Willett  hastened  to  Montreal,  and  arrived  there 
November  22,  t"en  days  after  Montgomery  had  reached  that  place. 
The. latter  ordered  Capt.  Willett  to  return  to  St.  Johns  and  take 
the  command  of  that  fort.     This  showed  the  high  appreciation  in 
which  he  was  held  by  his  superior  officer.     Willett  remained  at  St. 
Johns  until  in  January,  1776,  when  the  term  of  the  enlistment  of 
his  troops   having  expired,  he  was  relieved   and   again  went   to 
Montreal.     On   the  ISth  of   February,  by  order  of    Gen.  Mont 
gomery,  he  left  that  place  for  Albany  in  charge  of  British  officers 
and  their  families,  and    reached   the  latter  place  the  last  of  the 
month.     On  the   1st  of  March  he  set  out  on  horseback  for  New 
York,  where  he  arrived  the  5th. 


COL.    MAKINUS    WILLETT. 

The  war  having  now  assumed  a  severer  aspect  than  was  supposed 
fay  many  it  would,  it  was  found  necessary  to  raise  more  troops 
with  longer  terms  of  enlistment.  New  York  was  required  in  1776 
to  raise  four  battalions.  Of  the  Third  New  York  Regiment  thus 
raised,  Peter  Gansevoort  of  Albany  was  appointed  colonel  and 
Marinas  Willett  lieutenant-colonel.  The  latter  received  his 
appointment  the  latter  part  of  November,  1776,  and  with  his 
appointment  came  orders  to  repair  to  Fishkill  on  the  Hudson  to 
recruit  for  his  regiment.  He  was  diligently  employed  there  all  winter 
in  recruiting,  drilling  and  clothing  the  men,  and  getting  ready  for 
the  coming  campaign.  At  the  opening  of  the  spring  of  1777,  Col. 
Willitt  was  ordered  to  take  charge  of  Fort  Constitution,  opposite 
what  is  now  West  Point.  It  was  so  called  because  of  the  measures 
then  being  taken  to  form  a  state  constitution  for-  New  York. 
During  the  whole  war  of  the  revolution  it  was  a  favorite  scheme 
of  the  British  government  to  obtain  control  of  the  Hudson,  estab 
lish  a  chain  of  forts  along  that  river  and  keep  open  a  communica 
tion  between  New  York  city  and  Canada.  As  soon  as  the  ice  was 
out  of  the  Hudson,  about  the  middle  of  March,  1777,  sloops  loaded 
with  troops,  started  up  that  river  to  capture  Forts  Clinton  and 
Montgomery  and  Peekskill.  A  body  of  troops  landed  at  the 
latter  place,  set  fire  to  the  wharf  and  buildings,  and  made  such  a 
formidable  demonstration  as  to  cause  the  American  commander  at 
that  port  (Col.  McDougall)  to  move  the  army  stores  to  a  place  of 
safety,  and  his  troops  to  the  passes  in  the  highlands,  and  to  send 
to  Col.  Willett  for  help.  The  express  reached  the  latter  on  Sun 
day,  March  23,  while  Col.  Willett's  men  were  out  parading  for  a 
field  review.  The  troops  hurried  to  Peekskill  and  took  post  on  an 
eminence  that  commanded  a  full  view  of  the  surrounding  country. 
The  practiced  eye  of  Col.  Willett  noticed  that  a  detachment  of  100 
men  was  separated  from  the  main  army  of  the  enemy  by  a  ravine, 
and  he  conceived  the  project  of  cutting  them  off  and  capturing  the 
detachment;  he  took  a  circuitous  route,  crossed  fences  and  other 
obstructions,  but,  as  it  was  near  dark  and  the  detachment  fled  so 
precipitately  to  the  shipping,  he  was  unsuccessful.  He  captured, 
however,  baggage,  which  had  been  left,  consisting  of  blankets  and 
cloaks;  a  blue  camlet  cloak,  captured  on  that  occasion,  served 
afterwards  to  make  the  blue  stripes  to  the  flag  that  was  first 
hoisted  over  Fort  Stanwix,  as  will  be  hereafter  narrated.  The 
enemy  were  thoroughly  frightened'  and  took  refuge  on  board  of 
the  ships,  weighed  anchor,  and  by  the  light  of  the  moon,  the  whole 


ADDRESS    OF    D.    E.    WAGER.  15 

squadron  swept  down  the  Hudson  back  to  the  city.     Col.  Willett 
returned  to  Fort  Constitution  and   there  remained   until  May  18, 
when  he  was  ordered  to  Fort  Stanwix.     Hejpfit  out  with  his  regi 
ment  in  three  sloops,  and,  in  three  days,  reached  Albany,  thence 
up  the  Mohawk  in, boats,  and  arrived  at  Fort  Stanwix  May  29, 
nineteen   years  later  than  his   first   visit  under  Gen.   Bradstreet. 
Col.  Gansevoort  had  preceded  him  in  the  arrival  at  that  fort,  and 
was  chief  in  command.     In  1776  Washington  saw  the  importance 
of  Fort  Stanwix,  and  wrote  to  Gen.  Schuyler,  in  command  of  the 
jiorthern  frontier  of  New  York,  that  Fort  Stanwix  should  be  pufc 
in;  repair  and  in  a  state  of  defense,  but  it  seems,  however,  that  but 
Htyje  was  done.     It  was  known  early  in  the  year   1777  that  the 
^tish  plan  of  the  campaign  for  that  year  was  for  an  army  to 
enter  New  York  via  Lake  Champlain,  proceed  to  Albany,  and  to 
meet  Gen.  Howe,  who  was  to  go  up  the  Hudson  with  his  forces. 
It  was. to   carry  out  that  plan  and  to  capture  the  forts  on  the 
Hudson  that  the  incursion  was  made  to  Peekskill  in  March,  1777, 
as  before  stated.     It  was  a  part  of  the  same  plan  for  another  force 
to  .proceed  from  Canada,  via  Oswego,  Oneida  Lake  and  Wood 
Creek,  .capture   and  garrison   Fort   Stanwix,  proceed    down   the 
Mohawk,  overrun  the  settlements  of  the  valley  and  join  the  other 
British  troops  at  Albany.     This  plan,  if  successful,  would   have 
been  the  death  knell  of  American  independence,  as  it  would  have 
separated  the  New  England  colonies  from  the  other  provinces  and 
put  the  settlements  of  Tryon  county  at  the  mercy  of  the  Tories. 

When  Col.  Willett  reached  Fort  Stanwix  he  found  it  was  greatly 
out  of  repair;  the  ditch  was  filled  up,  the  embankments  crumbled 
away,  the  pickets  had  rotted  down  and  the  barracks  and  magazine 
gone  to  ruin.  It  is  hardly  worth  while  to  relate  in  this  connection 
the  difficulties  attending  the  repairs,  the  inefficiency,  if  not  the 
culpable  heedlessness,  of  the  engineer  in  charge,  a  detection  of  his 
blunders  by  Col.  Willett,  and  his  arrest  and  dismissal  to  Gen. 
Schuyler  at  Albany,  and  the  necessity  of  doing  over  again  much 
of  the  work,  and  how  it  was  not  completed  when  the  enemy 
arrived;  all  of  these  have  been  pretty  fully  narrated  in  the  general, 
as  well  as  the  local  history  of  the  times.  About  five  P.  M.,  August 
2,  batteaux  loaded  with  supplies  for  the  garrison  and  guarded  by 
200  men,  reached  the  landing  place  on  the  Mohawk  from  down  the 
river,  and  barely  had  time  .to  get  within  the  fort  when  an  advance 
guard  of  sixty  men  of  the  enemy  appeared  in  the  skirt  of  the 
woods  from  the  direction  of  Fort  Bull.  I^  fact,  the  captain  had 


16  COL.    MARINUS    WILLETT. 

carelessly  lingered  behind  and  was  taken  prisoner.  The  garrison, 
.by  this  200  addition,  consisted  of  750  men,  with  six  weeks'  provi 
sion,  but  a  scanty  supply  of  powder — enough  for  six  weeks  if  only 
nine  cannon  were  fired  each  day.  For  a  flag,  this  fort  was  up  to 
that  time  without  one.  The  garrison  heard,  doubtless,  in  due 
time,  in  this  far-ofF  wilderness,  the  kind  of  flag  Congress,  on  the 
14th  of  June  preceding,  had  adopted  as  the  emblem  of  the  nation 
that  was  to  be,  and,  as  necessity  is  the  mother  of  invention,  the 
troops  devised  the  means  for  making  a  flag  of  the  regulation  style. 
For  the  white  stripes  shirts  were  cut  up;  to  make  the  blue,  the 
•camlet  cloak  was  used,  captured  by  Col.  Wiliett  in  March  before, 
and  for  the  red,  old  garments  found  by  the  garrison  were  impro- 
Tised;  some  authorities  say,  the  red  was  made  from  a  petticoat, 
-captured  at  the  time  of  the  camlet  cloak.  The  army  that  was  to 
-come  by  way  of  Oswego,  was  under  the  command  of  Gen.  St. 
Leger,  of  the  regular  army,  and  under  him  was  Sir  John  Johnson 
in  command  of  the  Tories,  and  Brant  in  command  of  the  savages — 
about  1,000  in  all.  That  force  started  from  Montreal  about  June 
21st,  proceeded  down  the  St.  Lawrence,  across  Lake  Ontario  to 
Oswego,  where  it  arrived  about  July  25th,  and  left  the  28th  for 
Oneida  Lake,  reaching  the  mouth  of  Wood  Creek  August  1st. 
After  the  troops  left  Oswego,  their  progress  was  closely  watched 
and  daily  reported  to  the  garrison,  by  the  friendly  Oneidas,  so  that 
Col.  Wiliett  knew  to  a  day  when  the  army  would  arrive  at  Fort 
Stanwix.  An  advance  guard  of  sixty  men  under  Lieut.  Bird  were 
gent  forward  by  St.  Leger,  to  formally  invest  the  fort,  and  t>hat 
detachment  arrived  a  little  after  five  in  the  afternoon  as  heretofore 
stated.  On  Sunday,  August  3d,  the  remainder  of  the  enemy 
reached  the  upper  landing  on  Wood  Creek  (the  site  of  the  late 
United  States  arsenal)  and  there  formed  into  line,  to  march  with 
pomp  and  display  over  the  intervening  spaca  to  the  fort.  The  day 
was  bright  and  clear,  and  the  pathway  over  the  portage  of  suffi 
cient  width  to  enable  the  troops  to  show  off  to  good  advantage. 
The  garrison  were  purposely  paraded  on  the  ramparts,  not  to  fire, 
but  to  view  the  class  of  troops  they  were  to  meet,  and  to  observe 
their  movements  and  count  their  numbers.  Not  a  gun  was  fired  on 
either  side.  The  garrison  simply  watched  and  counted.  The  martial 
music  was  first  heard,  next  came  in  sight  the  scarlet  uniforms,  and 
then  the  burnished  firearms  of  the  regular  soldiers,  the  glittering 
tomahawks  of  the  savages,  and  the  wild  feathers  waving  and 
tossing  on  their  head  gear.  As  they  advanced  the  regular  troops 


ADDRESS    OF    D.    E.    WAGER.  17 

• 

^narched  wilh  precision  and  stately  tread,  deploying  to  the  right 
.and  left,vvwhile  the  Indians  spread  out  on  the  flanks,  and  with  yells 
and  war  whoops  made  the  forest  resound  with  their  reverberations, 
that  drowned  the  sound  of  the  bugle  and  the  drum.     In  the  midst 
of  all,  banners,  ensigns  and  streamers  floated  to  the  breeze,  and  the 
whole  display  was  intended   to  strike  terror  to  the  hearts  of  the 
garrison,  but  it  had  the  opposite  ett'ect.     They  comprehended  the 
situation,  and  saw  the  kind  of  foe  they  were  to  meet.     St.  Leger 
placed  a  portion  of  his  troops  on  the  site  of  the  late  United  States 
arsenal ;  another  portion,  with   cannon  and  mortar  with  which  to 
shell  the  fort,  upon  the  rise  of  ground  now  occupied  by  St.  Peter's 
Church.     Sir  John  Johnson  and  his  toiies  were  stationed  southeast 
of  the  fort,  near  the  bend  of  the  Mohawk,  below  where  the  railroad 
bridge  now  crosses  that  stream,  and  out  of  the  reach  of  the  guns 
of  the  fort,  while  the  Indian  camps  were  in  the  woods  near  the  site 
now  occupied  by  the  railroad  freight  house;  the  river  a  few  rods 
easterly,  prevented  the  garrison  from   escaping  in  that  direction. 
It  will  thus  be  seen  how  closely  the  investure  was  made,  and  how 
snugly  the  garrison  was  cooped  up  within  the  fortifications.     Very 
early  on  the  morning  of  Monday,  August  4,  a  brisk  fire  from  the 
rifles  of  the  Indians  was  commenced,  which  annoyed  the  garrison 
in  their  work  on  the  parapets.     The  greater  part  of  the  5th  was 
occupied  by  both  sides  in  tiring  at  each  other.     Soon  after  dark  of 
that  evening  the  Indians   spread  themselves  through   the  woods, 
completely  encircling   the  fort,  and   almost  the  entire  night  kept 
up  terrific  yelling,  so   as  to  keep  the  garrison  awake  and  on  the 
qui  vlve.     Early  on  the  morning  of  Wednesday,  August  6,  it  was 
noticed  that  the  Indian  and  Sir  John  Johnson's  camps  were  nearly 
deserted,  and  that  the  enemy  were  stealthily  stealing  along  the 
«dge  of  the  woods,  on  the  south  side  of  the  river,  toward  Oriskany. 
The  reason  for  this  movement  was  not  guessed  by  the  garrison, 
for  the  Americans  were  not  then  aware  that  Herkimer  was  coming 
to  their  relief.     About  eleven  in   the  forenoon   two   men  sent  by 
Gen.  Herkimer  two  days  before,  succeeded  in  eluding  the  vigilance 
of  the  besiegers  and  in  getting  into  the  fort.     They  brought  the 
news  of  Gen.  Herkimer's  approach,  and  it  was  then  evident  that 
the  Indians  and  Tories  had  gone  down  the  river  to  intercept  the 
coming  troops.     Then  it  was  that   Gen.   Gansevoort  resolved  to 
make  a  sortie  and  attack  the  two  camps  that  had  been  partially 
deserted.     The  men  within  the  fort  were  paraded  in   a  square. and 
the  intelligence  of  Herkimer's  coming  was  communicated  to  them. 


18  COL.    MARLNUS    WILLETT. 

Col.  Willett,  who  was  to  lead  the  sortie,  went  down  into  the  es 
planade  and  addressed  the  men  substantially  as  follows:  "Soldiers, 
you  have  heard  that  Gen.  Herkimer  is  on  his  march  to  our  relief. 
The  commanding  officer  feels  satisfied  that  the  Tories  and  Queen's 
rangers  have  stolen  off  in  the  night  with  Brant  and  his  Mohawks 
to  meet  him.  The  camp  of  Sir  John  is  therefore  weakened.  As 
many  of  you  as  feel  willing  to  follow  me  in  an  attack  upon  it,  and 
are  not  afraid  to  die  for  liberty,  will  shoulder  your  arms  and  step 
out  one  pace  in  front."  Two  hundred  men  obeyt  d  the  impulse 
almost  at  the  same  moment ;  fifty  more  with  a  three  pounder  were 
soon  added.  A  rain  storm  nearly  at  that  instant  came  up,  which 
delayed  the  sortie  until  three  p.  M.,  but  as  soon  as  the  storm  ceased 
the  men  issued  from  the  sally  port  at  a  brisk  pace,  and  rushing 
down  on  Sir  John  Johnson's  camp,  near  the  bend  of  the  river, 
below  the  present  railroad  bridge,  carried  it  at  the  point  of  the 
bayonet,  drove  the  enemy  into  and  across  the  Mohawk  at  that 
point,  and  captured  a  large  amount  of  army  stores  arid  a  number 
of  prisoners,  among  whom  was  Col.  Singleton,  who  was  at  the 
battle  of  Oriskany  a  few  hours  before,  but  had  returned  to  camp 
in  the  meantime.  He  informed  Col.  Willett,  as  the  latter  states  in 
his  "narrative,"  that  Sir  John  was  also  in  camp,  and  fled  across 
the  river.  If  this  was  correct  information,  Sir  John  must  also 
have  returned  from  Oriskany,  for  the  reliable  accounts  show  he 
was  in  that  battle.  After  Sir  John's  camp  was  scattered,  Col. 
Willett  turned  his  attention  to  the  Indian  camp,  on  or  near  the  site 
of  the  present  railroad  freight  house,  and  soon  drove  the  Indians 
into  the  woods.  When  St.  Leger,  at  his  camp  on  the  present  site 
of  St.  Peter's  Church,  learned  of  the  sortie  he  hurriedly  crossed 
the  Mohawk  at  that  point  and  followed  down  stream  to  where 
"Factory  Village  "  now  is,  on  the  opposite  side  from  the  fort,  with 
a  view  to  cut  off  Col.  Willett's  return.  St.  Leger  had  two  brass 
field  pieces,  and,  partly  concealed  in  a  thicket  on  the  east  side  of 
the  river,  he  opened  a  brisk  fire  on  Col.  Willett's  rnen,  but  the 
latter  returned  it  so  effectively  that  they  soon  put  St.  Leger's  force 
to  flight  and  returned  to  the  fort  without  the  loss  of  a  single  man. 
Col.  Willett  captured  twenty-one  wagonloads  of  supplies,  with 
five  British  flags,  all  of  Sir  John's  papers,  including  his  orderly 
book,  and  also  letters  from  down  the  valley,  which  were  being 
sent  to  the  garrison  from  their  friends,  and  which  had  been  cap 
tured  from  Gen.  Herkimer  a  few  hours  before,  but  which  the 
enemy  had  not  opened.  The  following  is  what  Col.  Willett  says 


ADDRESS    OF    D.    E.    WAGER.  19 

in  his  "narrative"  was  done  on  his  return  to  the  fort:  "The  five 
flags  taken  from  the  enemy  were  hoisted  on  the  flagstaff,  under  the 
Continental  flag,  when  all  the  troops  in  the  garrison,  having 
mounted  the  parapets,  gave  three  as  hearty  cheers  as  perhaps 
were  ever  given  by  the  same  number  of  men."  That  account  by 
Col.  Willett  himself  establishes  the  fact  that  a  flag  of  the  regula 
tion  kind,  (as  he  calls  it  the  Continental  flag)  as  adopted  by  Con 
gress,  was  raised  on  Fort  Stanwix  as  early  as  August  6,  1777.  I 
have  not  seen  in  any  historical  work  that  a  flag  as  ordered  by 
Congress  was  raised  within  the  thirteen  colonies  prior  to  that 
time. 

In  the  afternoon  of  Thursday,  August  7,  a  white  flag  from  the 
enemy  approached  the  fort,  accompanied  by  three  officers,  with  a 
request  they  might  enter  with  a  message  from  St.  Leger.  Per 
mission  was  granted,  and,  according  to  custom,  they  were  first 
blindfolded  and  then  conducted  into  the  dining-room,  where  the 
windows  were  darkened,  candles  lighted,  the  table  spread  with 
some  light  refreshments,  and  they  were  then  received  by  Col.  Ganse- 
voort  in  the  presence  of  his  officers.  The  bandage  was  then 
removed  from  the  eyes  of  the  British  officers  and  the  principal 
speaker  (Major  Ancram)  made  known  his  errand,  the  purport 
of  which  was  a  demand  of  the  surrender  of  the  fort,  accompanied 
by  intimations  that  if  surrendered  the  prisoners  would  be  treated 
humanely,  but  if  taken  by  force  St.  Leger  would  not  hold  himself 
responsible  for  the  acts  of  cruelty  of  the  Indians.  Col.  Willett 
was  deputed  to  reply  in  behalf  of  the  garrison  and  no  one  had 
more  fire  or  greater  spirit  or  was  better  qualified  to  speak  on  that 
occasion.  He  looked  Major  Ancram  full  in  the  face  and  with  an 
earnestness  and  emphasis  that  admitted  of  no  mistake  or  equivo 
cation  said  in  substance :  "This  garrison  is  committed  to  our 
charge  and  we  will  take  care  of  it.  After  you  get  out  of  the  fort 
you  may  turnaround  and  look  at  its  outside,  but  never  expect  to 
come  in  again  unless  you  come  a  prisoner.  I  consider  the  message 
you  have  brought  a  degrading  one  for  a  British  officer  to  send  and 
by  no  means  reputable  for  a  British  officer  to  carry.  For  my  own 
part,  I  declare  that  before  I  would  consent  to  deliver  this  garrison 
to  such  a  murdering  set  as  your  army,  by  your  own  account 
consists  of,  I  would  suffer  my  body  to  be  filled  with  splinters  and 
set  on  fire,  as  you  know  has  at  times  been  practiced  by  such  hordes 
of  women  and  children  killers  as  belong  to  your  army."  These 
sentiments  were  re-echoed  with  applause  by  all  officers  present  of 


20  COL.    MARINUS    WILLETT. 

the  garrison.     A  cessation  of  hostilities  for  three  days  was  agreed 
upon.     As  nothing  had  been  heard  from  down  the  valley  since  the 
battle  of  Oriskany  the  garrison  was  getting  uneasy.     They  needed 
more  amunition  and  might  soon  need  provisions.     It  was  discussed 
within  the  fort  that  if   Col.  Willett,  who  was  very  popular  in  the 
Try  on  County  settlements,  could  show  himself  there   a  spirit  of 
enthusiasm  would  be  awakened  and  they  would  rally  to  the  relief 
of    the    fort.      Influenced    by    these    considerations    Col.    Willett 
agreed  to  make  the  hazardous  attempt  to  reach   the  people  down 
the  river.     Accordingly,  at  ten  o'clock  at  night,  Sunday,  August 
10,  he,  accompanied  by  Lieut.  Stockwell,  a  good  woodsman,  each 
armed  with   a  spear  eight  feet  long,  as  his  only  weapon,  with  no 
provisions  but  crackers  and  cheese  in   their  pockets  and  a  quart 
canteen  of  spirits,  no  baggage  or  blankets,  stole  silently  out  of 
the  sally  port,  crossed  the  river  by  crawling  on   a  log,  and  when 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  stream,  where  "Factory  Village"  now 
is,  it  was  pitch  dark  and  they  in  the  middle  of  a  thick  forest.     In 
rambling   about   they  lost  their  way  and  bearings  and  became 
alarmed  by  the  barking  of  a  dog  not  far  away.     They  were  near 
an  Indian  camp,  some  of  the  Indians  having  taken   a  position  on 
that  side  of  the  river  after  the  sortie  of  Col.  Willett.     They  stood 
perfectly  still  by  the  side  of  a  large  tree,  not  venturing  to  move 
for  hours  and  until  the  morning  star  appeared.     They  then  took  a 
northerly  course  and  struck  the  Mohawk  again  not  far  from  what 
is  now  known  as  the  "  Ridge,"  two  miles  north  of  the  fort.     They 
kept  close  to  the  river,  waded  in  it,  and  some  of  the  way  crossed. 
over  from  one  side  to  the  other,  so  as  to  conceal  their  trail  and  not 
be  followed.     They  pursued  this  course  for  several  hours  and  then 
turned  easterly  to* strike  the  settlements  down  the  river.     In  those 
days  the  Indian  path  was  south  of  the  Mohawk  and  seldom,  if 
ever,  was  there  traveling   in   the   pathless  woods  north  of  that 
stream;  nevertheless  when  night  came  those  two  d^re  not  strike  a 
fire  or  a  light,  lest  it  might  attract  attention  of  prowling  Indians ; 
and  so  they  camped  in  the  thicket,  without  fire,  light,  blankets  or 
covering.     At  peep  of  day  they  were  on  their  feet,  although  both 
"were  tired,  lame  and  sore  for  the  day's  traveling,  and  night's  chill, 
and  Col.  Willett's  rheumatism,  yet  they  kept  on  their  journey,  but 
Bteered  more  southerly,  and  about  nine  in  the  morning  they  struck 
a  heavy  windfall  where  were  growing  large  patches  of  ripe  black 
berries.     From  this  luscious  fruit  and  the   crackers   and  cheese 
and  spirits  the  two  had  a  hearty  breakfast.     The  sun  and  points  of 


ADDRESS    OF    D.    E.    WAGEK.  21 

compass  were  observed  and  without  other  guides  they  struck  Fort 
Dayton  (now  Herkimer  villagej  about  three  in  the  afternoon, 
having  traversed  a  distance  of  fifty  miles  through  an  unknown 
forest,  crossing  streams  and  morasses,  climbing  hills  and  sur 
mounting  many  other  obstacles.  The  general  route  those  two 
traveled  is  indicated  as  above  by  Col.  Willett's  "  narrative ;"  it 
must  have  been  northerly  of  Floyd  Corners,  through  Trenton  and 
into  Russia,  Herkimer  Cbunty.  "  Simm's  Frontiersmen  of  New 
York"  says  that  years  before  the  revolution  a  hurricane  began  in 
the  westerly  part  of  Oneida  County  and  swept  through  the  forest 
in  an  easterly  direction  across  the  present  towns  of  Camden  and 
Trenton,  entering  Elsrkimer  County  at  a  place  called  the 
"  dugway  "  in  Poland,  and  continued  onward  through  the  towns 
of  Russia,  Salsbury  and  Norway — extending  a  distance  of  fifty 
or  sixty  miles  in  length.  Its  breadth  ranged  from  60  to  100  rods 
and  so  great  was  its  fury  that  almost  every  tree  in  its  course  was 
torn  up  by  the  roots.  Its  traces  were  visible  for  more  than  half  a 
century  afterward  and  a  portion  of  the  ground  over  which  that 
tornado  passed  is  called  "the  hurricane"  to  this  day.  It  was 
doubtless  in  the  track  of  that  tornado  Col.  Willett  found 
those  patches  of  berries.  Jones'  Annals  of  Oneida  county,  state, 
that  in  the  month  of  that  siege,  a  hurricane  of  tremendous  power 
passed  through  Westmoreland  from  west  to  east — its  ravages 
extended  from  Oneida  L-ike  to  Coop^rstown,  half  a  mile  and  in 
some  places  a  mile  in  width,  prostrating  the  entire  forest  in  its 
sweep  ;  the  severest  effects  were  in  that  town.  If  both  of  those 
historical  accounts  of  tornadoes  are  correct,  there  were  two  of 
them,  six  or  seven  years  apart,  passing  over  this  county,  one  north 
and  the  other  south  of  the  Mohawk. 

On  the  arrival  of  Col  Willett  and  Lieut,  Stockwell  at  Fort 
Dayton,  it  was  ascertained  that  Gen.  Schuyler  had  ordered  a 
brigade  of  Massachusetts  troops,  stationed  some  ten  miles  above 
Albany,  to  the  relief  of  Fort  Stanwix,  and  that  Gen.  Arnold  was 
to  be  in  command.  Having  rested  for  one  night,  Col.  Willett  and 
Lieut,  Stockwell  started  early  the  next  morning  for  Albany,  on 
horseback  to  meet  the  troops  and  interview  Gen.  Arnold.  The 
troops  were  met  the  same  evening  on  their  way.  It  was  then 
learned  that  the  First  New  York  Regiment  was  also  on  its  way  to 
relieve  the  fort.  On  Saturday,  August  16,  Gen.  Arnold  and  Col- 
Willett  reached  Fort  Dayton,  were  the  troops  were  assembled; 
on  the  way  from  Albany,  Col.  W.  stopped  to  see  Gen.  Herkimer 


22  COL.    MARINUS    WILLETT. 

at  his  residence  near  Little  Falls,  who  that  day  had  his  leg  am 
putated  by  reason  of  the  injury  in 'the  battle  at  Oriskany  ten  days 
before;  the  latter  died  next  day  after  the  anputation.  About  the 
time  that  Col.-Willett  started  down  the  valley  for  assistance, 
Walter  N.  Butler,  a  tory,  who  was  in  the  battle  of  Oriskany,  and 
was  in  the  seige  of  Fort  Stanwix,  also  went  down  to  the  Mohawk 
Settlements  to  rally  his  Tory  friends.  A  number  of  them  had 
assembled  by  appointment  on  Friday  evening,  August  15,  at  the 
bouse  of  one  Shoemaker,  one  of  the  king's  justices  of  the  peace 
of  Tryon  county,  there  to  be  addressed  by  Butler.  Shoemaker 
then  resided  at  or  near  what  is  now  Mohawk  village,  nearly 
opposite  Herkimer  village.  The  garrison  of  Fort  Dayton  received 
news  of  the  assemblage  and  a  detachment  was  sent  to  surround 
the  house  and  capture  the  inmates.  When  Butler  was  in  the 
midst  of  his  harangue,  the  detachment  swooped  down  upon  the  as 
semblage,  and  captured  the  whole  posse,  consisting  of  six  or  eight 
soldiers,  and  as  many  Indians,  besides  a  number  of  tories,  among 
whom  was  an  ignorant,  halfwitted  fellow  by  the  name  of  Han  Yost 
Schuyler.  Gen.  Arnold  at  once  ordered  a  court  martial  to  try 
Butler  and  Schuyler  as  spie?,  for  being  found  within  the  American 
lines.  Col.  Willett  was  appointed  judge  advocate;  the  two  were 
convicted  and  sentenced  to  be  executed.  Gen.  Arnold  approved 
the  sentence  and  ordered  the  execution  to  take  place  the  next 
morning.  Through  the  intei  cession  of  friends,  the  sentence  of 
Butler  was  respited  and  he  sent  to  Albany  as  a  prisoner.  Through 
carelessness  or  treachery  he  subsequently  escaped  and  fled  to 
Canada,  and  for  years  thereafter  was  the  greatest  scourge,  by  rea 
son  of  his  temper  and  cruelties  ever  inflicted  upon  the  County 
of  Tryon,  and  his  name  has  been  handed  down  through  history, 
as  the  worst  hated,  and"  most  detested  of  all  the  tories  of  those 
times.  As  to  Han  Yost  Schuyler,  his  brother  and  widowed 
mother  strongly  interceded  in  his  behalf  and  as  he  was 
a  well  known  Tory  and  regarded  by  the  Indians  with  a  sort 
of  superstition  they  always  entertain  toward  such  unfortunates, 
Gen.  Arnold  conceived  the  idea  of  using  him  to  frighten  away  the 
besiegers  at  Fort  Stanwix.  That  ruse  and  its  success,  have  been  so 
often  told,  that  the  story  need  not  be  repeated  here;  suffice  it  to 
say  that  by  reason  of  the  exaggerated  stories  Han  Yost  com 
municated  to  St.  Leger,  of  the  near  approach  of  an  overwhelming 
relieving  force,  the  siege  was  abandoned  August  22,  and  the 
besiegers  hurriedly  returned  by  the  route  they  came  20  days  be 


ADDRESS    OF    D.    E.    WAGER. 

fore,  leaving  behind  the  bombadier  asleep  in  the  bomb  proof,  St. 
Lexer's  private  writing  desk,  the  tents  of  the  soldiers,  provisions, 
artillery,  ammunition,  the  entire  camp  equipage,  and  large  quant 
ities  of  other  stores. 

Han  Yost  Schuylcr  fled  with  the  'fugitives  as  far  as  Oneida 
Lake;  there  he  found  means  to  leave  them  and  to  return  to  the 
fort,  and  apprise  Col.  Gansevoort  of  the  ruse.  This  was  the  first 
notice  the  latter  received  of  Gen.  Arnold's  approach,  and  explained 
why  St.  Leger  had  left  in  such  haste.  At  four  o'clock  of  the 
afternoon  of  the  next  day,  Gen.  Arnold  arrived  with  his  men,  and 
with  four  brass  field  pieces,  banners  displayed,  drums  beating, 
music  playing,  they  marched  into  the  fort  amid  the  booming  of 
cannon,  the  discharge  of  musketry  and  the  cheers  of  the  garrison. 
The  successful  defense  of  Fort  Stanwix  to  which  Col.  Willett  so 
largely  contributed,  affixed  the  seal  to  American  independence. 
Within  two  months  thereafter,  Burgoyne  and  his  army  laid  down 
their  arms  on  the  field  of  Saratoga.  Ticonderoga  was  abandoned, 
the  British  gave  up  the  control  of  the  Hudson  and  retreated  down 
the  river  and  New  York  was  redeemed."  These  victories  and 
others,  commencing  at  that  lone  fortress  in  the  then  far  off  wilder 
ness,  sent  a  glow  of  joy  throughout  the  thirteen  colonies,  and 
paved  the  way  for  France  in  less  than  four  months  thereafter  to 
acknowledge  our  independence.  The  British  press  spoke  in  the 
highest  praise  of  Col.  Willett's  achievements,  of  his  journey  down 
the  river  through  pathless  woods  in  quest  of  succor.  Congress 
voted  him -a  sword,  and  the  next  October,  one  was  sent  him, 
accompanied  by  a  copy  of  the  resolution  of  Congress,  and  a 
complimentary  letter  from  John  Hancock,  president  of  that  body. 
That  testimonial  is  now  in  the  possession  of  a  descendant  of  Col. 
Willett,  and  a  description  of  it  is  furnished  me  as  follows:  "It  is 
one  of  ordinary  length,  rapier  kind,  running  to  a  sharp  point, 
and  of  Damascus  steel;  the  handle  is  gold,  platina  and  other 
metal,  and  on  it  is  this  inscription,  '  Congress  to  Col.  Willett^  Oct., 
1777.'"  After  St.  Leger's  retreat  Col.  Willett  passed  several 
months  in  comparative  inactivity.  He  completed  the  unfinished 
works  of  Fort  Stanwix,  and  drilled -the  troops  stationed  there. 
The  last  of  September,  Col.  Gausevoort  having  returned  to  that 
fort,  Col.  Willett  set  out  to  visit  his  family  at  Fishkill,  where  he 
arrived  October  4,  the  very  day  the  British  captured  Forts  Clinton 
and  Montgomery,  and  thereby  obtained  for  a  short  time,  control 
of  the  lludfecn.  Col.  Willett  remained  for  awhile  in  that  vicinity, 


COL.    MAEINUS    WILLETT. 

assisting  in  the  defense  of  the  country  about  that  river.  That  fall ' 
he  visited  the  army  under  Washington,  a  dozen  of  miles  from. 
Philadelphia,  and  remained  there  until  January,  1778,  when  he 
returned  to  Fort  Stanwix.  Wearied  with  this  inactive  and  monot 
onous  life,  he  set  out  in  June,  1778,  to  join  the  army  under 
Washington;  on  reaching  Fishkill,  he  found  there  Gen.  Gates,  and 
on  the  21st  of  that  month,  news  came  that  the  British  had 
evacuated  Philadelphia.  As  Gen.  Gates  had  important  informa 
tion  to  communicate  to  Washington,  Col.  Willett  was  sent  as  the 
confidential  messenger.  He  remained  with  the  main  army,  and 
took  part  in  'the  battle  of  Monmouth  on  the  28th  of  June,  and 
continued  with  that  army  the  rest  of  the  year  1778. 

The  great  campaign  for  the  year  1779,  was  to  be  an  invasion  of 
the  country  in  the  western  part  of  New  York,  occupied  by  the 
Onondaga,  Cayuga  and  Seneca  Indians.  Those  tribes  had  taken 
sides  with  the  British,  and  from  their  territory  many  of  the  incur 
sions  into  the  Mohawk  settlements  were  planned  ;  their  rich  agri 
cultural  fields  had  afforded  support  to  the  armies,  and  to  the 
Indian  families,  while  the  war  was  thus  carried  on  against  the 
colonists.  Those  tribes  possessed  large  cultivated  fields,  of  great 
productiveness,  also  extensive  gardens  and  orchards,  and  lived  in 
frame  houses,  and  had  acquired  some  of  the  arts,  and  were  in  the 
enjoyment  of  many  of  the  comforts  of  civilized  life.  They 
raised  in  profusion  apples,  pears,  peaches,  plums,  melons,  squashes, 
grapes,  cranberries,  beans  and  tobacco ;  corn  was  raised  in  large 
quantities;  ears  of  that  grain  measured  twenty-two  inches  in 
length;  the  first  sweet  corn  ever  seen  in  New  England  was  carried 
thither  from  the  country  of  the  Six  Nations  by  a  soldier  in  his 
knapsack,  during  the  war  of  the  revolution.  This  Indian  country 
included  some  fifty  to  sixty  towns,  all -rudely  built  for  those  times. 
Washington,  Schuyler  and  others  and  Congress  felt  that  a  country 
which  furnished  so  much  aid  and  comfort  to  the  enemy,  should  be 
as  thoroughly  devastated  as  had  been  the  valley  of  the  Mohawk. 
To  accomplish  that  purpose,  two  armies,  one  under  Gen.  Sullivan 
was  to  proceed  from  Pennsylvania,  to  m*je,t  another  under  Gen. 
Clinton  at  or  near  the  junction  of  Tioga  and  Susquehanna  rivers, 
below  Newtown,  now  near  Elmira,  and  thence  proceed  via  Seneca 
and  the  other  inland  lakes  into  the  heart  of  the  Indian  country  of 
western  New  York.  In  April  of  that  year,  and  as  a  part  of  the- 
same  campaign,  some  600  troops,  in  charge  of  Cols.  Willett  and* 
Van  Schaack,  were  ordered  from  Fort  Stanwix  to  go  down  Wood 


ADDRESS    OF    D.    E.    WAGER.  25 

Creek  and  into  Oneida  Lake  to  the  Onondaga  River,  and  thence 
into  the  country  of  the  Onondagas,  to  lay  their  settlements  waste, 
destroy  their  buildings  and  inflict  the  same  kind  of  chastisement 
upon  them  that  had  been  inflicted  upon  the  white  settlements. 
This  expedition  started  from  Fort  Stanwix  April  18,  and  was  gone 
six  days,  traveling  180  miles,  and  most  effectually  accomplishing 
the  work  it  set  out  to  perform.  About  a  dozen  villages,  extending 
a  distance  of  some  ten  miles  along  the  valley  of  the  Onondaga 
streams,  were  burned,  grain,  cattle  and  other  property  destroyed,, 
the  swivel  of  their  council  house  disabled,  and  the  destruction  of 
the  settlements  rendered  complete.  Alter  this  work  Col.  Willett 
returned  to  Canajoharie  and  then  joined  Gen.  Clinton's  army,  for 
its  destination  to  meet  Gen.  Sullivan.  Four  weeks  Gen.  Clinton 
was  occupied  in  making  the  needed  preparations;  in  August  he 
and  his  army  went  overland  to  the  head  of  Otsego  Lake,  the  head 
waters  of  Susquehanna  River,  taking  200  boats  from  Canajoharie, 
each  drawn  by  four  horses,  to  that  lake.  The  waters  of  the  lake 
and  river  were  raised  by  a  d?fm,  and  the  loaded  boats  were 
launched,  to  be  carried  down  the  river  by  the  rushing  waters.  For 
the  energy  and  ability  displayed  by  Col.  Willett  in  the  part  be 
took  to  start  that  flotilla,  Gen.  Clinton  paid  him  a  high  compliment 
in  a  letter  to  Gen.  Schuyler.  The  two  armies  of  Gens.  Sullivan 
and  Clinton  united,  and  on  the  29th  of  August  was  fought  the 
bloody  and  hotly  contested  battle  of  Newtown,  in  which  the  Indiana 
under  Brant  and  the  Tories  under  Sir  John  Johnson  and  Col.  John 
Butler  were  totally  routed.  The  enemy  fought  with  desperation, 
for  they  were  lighting  for  their  homes,  and  they  knew  that  defeat 
meant  the  desolation  of  their  country  and  the  destruction  of  their 
firesides.  There  was  no  battle  and  not  much  opposition  after  that. 
Sullivan's  army,  5,000  strong,  overran  the  entire  hostile  country 
and  laid  it  waste,  leaving  hardly  a  green,  living  or  movable 
thing  on  the  whole  track  of  the  invaders.  They  found  it  a  garden, 
but  left  it  a  desert.  Over  forty  towns,  which  included  700  build 
ings,  were  burned  to  ashes,  160,000  bushels  of  corn  were  destroyed, 
elegant  gardens  laid  waste,  1,500  bearing  fruit  trees  leveled  to  the 
ground,  cattle  killed  or  driven  off,  and  the  inhabitants  compelled 
to  seek  safety  in  flight.  It  broke  the  backbone  of  the  Iroquois 
confederacy,  from  which  it  never  recovered.  That  campaign  has 
passed  into  history  as  the  "  Sullivan's  expedition/'  The  ravages- 
of  the  Indian  country,  made  by  that  expedition,  incited  those  hostile- 
tribes  and  the  Tories  to  retaliate  in  kind  and  to  wreak  their 


26  COL.    MARINUS    WILLETT. 

vengeance  the  next  year  upon  the  white  settlements  of  Tryon 
county.  After  that  expedition  Col.  Willett  again  returned  to  the 
main  army  and  rendered  himself  useful  in  connection  therewith. 
In  the  winter  of  1779-80  he  led  a  detachment  of  500  men,  and 
with  one  field  piece,  crossed  at  night  on  the  ice  over  to  Staten 
Island  and  captured  seventeen  wagonloads  of  stores,  which  at  that 
particular  juncture  were  of  great  service  tp  the  troops.  The  same 
winter  he  led  another  expedition  to  Paulas  Hook,  (Jersey  City,) 
captured  a  redoubt  and  all  of  the  cattle  of  the  British.  It 
was  the  celerity  of  Col.  Willett's  movements,  the  fertility  of 
his  resources  and  his  untiring  activity  that  rendered  him  such  a 
valuable  aid  to  the  patriot  cause  and  so  much  dreaded  by  the 
enemy.  He  was  in  that  war  to  the  Americans  what  Sheridan  was 
to  the  North  and  Stonewall  Jackson  to  the  South  in  the  recent 
civil  war.  Wherever  he  commanded  he  inspired  the  confidence 
and  enthusiasm  of  his  men,  and  they  generally  followed  wherever 
he  dared  to  lead. 

During  the  year  1780  and  while  the  Indians  and  Tories  were 
committing  terrible  ravages  in  Tryon  county,  Col.  Willett  was 
with  the  main  army  in  Westchester  county,  but  nothing  of 
importance  occurred,  so  far  as  he  was  concerned.  The  County  of 
Tryon  during  the  first  six  years  of  the  war,  suffered  more  severely 
than  any  other  extent  of  territory  within  the  thirteen  colonies. 
Within  its  borders  more  campaigns  were  performed,  more  battles 
fought,  more  people  murdered  and  more  dwellings  burned  than  in 
any  other  section.  The  Board  of  Supervisors  of  that  county, 
reported  to  the  Legislature  in  December,  1780,  that  during  the 
war  700  buildings  had  been  burned,  354  families  had  abandoned 
their  homes  and  removed  from  the  country,  613  persons  had 
deserted  to  the  enemy,  197  had  been  killed,  121  taken  captives, 
and  1,200  farms  were  uncultivated  by  reason  of  the  enemy,  and 
this  did  not  include  some  five  or  six  other  settlements.  Other 
statistics  show  that  thousands  of  horses  and  cattle  had  been  killed 
or  stolen,  millions  of  bushels  of  grain  destroyed,  and  that  300 
women  had  been  made  widows,  and  2,000  children  made  orphans. 
These  ravages  and  misfortunes,  earned  for  the  valley  of  the 
Mohawk,  the  title  of  "  the  dark  and  bloody  ground,"  and  well  nigh 
extinguished  the  hopes  and  crushed  out  the  spirit  of  the  people. 
The  year  178L  opened  gloomily  upon  the  inhabitants  of  that 
valley.  In  this  emergency,  Gov.  Clinton  bethought  himself  of  one 
who  could  revive  the  drooping  spirits  of  the  people,  whose  presence 


ADDRESS    OF    D.    E.    WAGER.  2? 

would  arouse  great  enthusiasm  and  be  a  tower  of  strength  in  the 
valley.  That  one  was  Col.  Marinus  Willett.  At  the  urgent  solicit 
ation  of  Gov.  Clinton  and  with  great  reluctance,  Col.  Willett 
consented  to  leave  the  main  army,  and  make  his  headquarters  in 
the  valley  to  take  command  of  the  levies  assigned  to  that  branch 
of  the  State  service.  His  strong  sympathies  with  the  suffering 
people,  his  acquaintance  with  Indian  methods  and  modes  of  war 
fare,  and  the  assurances  of  Gov.  Clinton  that  his  presence  was 
needed,  induced  him  to  undertake  the  laborious  and  hazardous 
service.  He  has  left  on  record  the  assertion  that  one  year  of  such 
work  was  more  trying  and  laborious  than  all  of  the  other  years  of 
the  war.  The  fore  part  of  July,  1781,  Col.  Willett  established  his 
headquarters  at  Canajoharie,  and  it  was  not  long  thereafter  before 
his  services  were  called  into  requisition. 

In  the  year  1781  there  were  twenty-four  forts  between  Schenec- 
tady  and  Fort  Dayton,  (now  Herkimer  village),  into  which  the 
inhabitants  of  the  valley  sought  refuge  when  pressed  by  the  enemy, 
or  otherwise  threatened  with  danger.  Some  of  these  forts  were 
nothing  more  than  dwellings  within  picketed  inclosures;  neverthe 
less  they  afforded  a  comparative  security  against  sudden  irruptions 
from  the  ioe.  Early  that  year  the  whole  northern  and  western 
frontiers  of  New  York  were  threatened  with  invasions,  and  the 
people  were  weighed  down  by  a  deeper  feeling  of  unrest  and 
despondency  than  at  any  former  period  during  the  war.  The 
country  between  Albany  and  Lake  Champlain  was  suffering  for 
want  of  provisions  and  in  danger  of  raids  from  Canada  in  that 
direction,  while  Brant  and  his  dusky  warriors  were  hovering  about 
the  valley  of  the  Mohawk,  ready  to  pounce  upon  any  soldier  or 
inhabitant  who  was  unfortunate  enough  to  be  caught  away  from 
his  comrades  or  the  forts.  It  was  in  the  spring  of  that  year  that 
Brant  and  his  Indians,  while  prowling  around  Fort  Stanwix  and 
its  vicinity,  picked  up  and  carried  off  some  thirty  of  the  garrison 
of  that  fort.  In  May  of  the  same  year  that  Fort  was  so  badly  in 
jured  by  fire  and  flood  that  it  was  abandoned,  and  the  men  removed 
to  other  quarters.  It  was  in  the  midst  of  this  deep  gloom  and  gen 
eral  discouragement  that  Col.  Willett  consented  to  take  command 
of  the  northwestern  frontier  and  make  his  headquarters  in  the 
Mohawk  valley.  The  lore  part  of  July,  1781,  he  established  him 
self  at  Canajoharie,  where  he  had  one  hundred  and  twenty  men; 
at  Fort  Herkimer  he  had  about  twenty  more,  at  Ballston  some 
.thirty,  and  at  Catskill  twenty ;  in  other  parts  of  the  valley  were 


28  COL.    MARINTJS    WILLETT. 

less  than  one  hundred  more.  These  did  not  include  the  militia 
nor  the  new  levies  soon  expected  1o  be  raised.  The  country  he 
was  to  defend  was  all  of  New  York  west  of  Albany  county, 
and  included  Catskill  and  other  -exposed  points  along  the 
Hudson.  He  was  not  left  long  without  occupation;  even  while 
establishing  his  headquarters,  a  force  of  three  or  four  hundred, 
mostly  Indians,  was  on  its  way  from  Canada  to  attack  the  Mohawk 
settlements.  Capt.  John  Dockstador  was  a  bitter  Tory,  and,  some 
time  before,  had  fled  from  that  part  of  the  country  and  collected 
the  above  Indians  and  Tories  to  return  and  raid  his  old  neighbors 
and  acquaintances,  and  in  hopes,  if  successful,  of  becoming  a  major. 
This  raiding  party  took  the  route  from  Canada,  through  the  Seneca 
country,  traveled  by  the  "Sullivan  expedition"  of  two  years  be 
fore,  thence  struck  off  for  the  head  waters  of  the  Susquehanna  to 
the  Mohawk  valley  settlements,  in  the  direction  of  what  is  now 
Sharon  Springs.  Dockstader  and  his  men,  pursued  'their  course 
with  such  quietness  and  stealth,  that  they  reached  without  being 
discovered,  a  dense  cedar  swamp  of  some  seventy-five  acres,  about 
half  a  mile  southwest  of  what  is  now  Sharon  Centre,  some  two 
miles  east  of  Sharon  Springs.  Upon  a  slight  rise  of  ground 
within  that  swamp,  concealed  from  view,  those  raiders  encamped 
for  the  first  night,  and  most  of  them  started  off  the  next  morning, 
Monday,  July  9th,  to  attack  Corrytown,  a  small  settlement  of  a 
dozen  houses,  six  or  eight  miles  distant  in  a  northeasterly  direction, 
in  what  is  now  the  town  of  Root,  in  Montgomery  county,  three 
miles  south  of  Spraker's  Basin,  and  about  a  dozen  miles  southeast 
erly  from  Canajoharie,  where  Col.  Willett  was  located.  It  so 
happened  that  early  on  the  same  morning,  that  those  Indians  and 
Tories  left  that  swamp  for  Corrytown,  Col.  Willett,  without 
knowing  that  an  enemy  was  in  that  direction,  sent  out  from  Can- 
ajoharie,  a  scouting  party  of  thirty-five  men,  under  Capt.  Gross, 
to  patrol  the  country  around  Sh-aron  Springs,  then  a  strong  Tory 
settlement  known  as  New  Dorlach,  and  to  procure  beeves  and 
other  supplies  for  the  garrison,  also  to  see  if  an  enemy  was  near. 
The  fact  that  New  Dorlach  was  a  Tory  settlement,  was  doubtless 
the  incentive  for  Dockstader,  to  make  that  swamp  his  headquarters 
and  hiding  place,  for  his  Tory  sympathizers  were  undoubtedly 
apprised  of  his  coming,  and  kept  it  a  secret.  The  same  feeling 
probably  moved  Col.  Willett  to  be  suspicious  oi  that  locality,  and 
to  make  it  the  base  of  his  supplies.  Capt.  Gross  had  been  gone 
but  a  few  hours  on.  his  scouting  expedition,  when  the  garrison  at 


ADDRESS    OF    D.    E.    WAGER.  29 

Canajoharie,  discovered  about  noon,  fire  and  smoke  in  the  direction 
of  Corrytown.     The  Indians  had  commenced  their  work  of  pillage 
and  destruction.     Col.  Willett  at  once  dispatched  to  Corrytown, 
Capt.  McKean,  with  sixteen  levies  and  with  orders  to   collect   as 
many  militia  on  the  route,  as  he  could   gather,  and  at  the  same 
time  he  sent  a  messenger  post  haste  after  Capt.  Gross  to  inform 
him  of  the  tire,  and   of  the   probable  proximity  of  the   enemy  in 
New  Dorlach,  with  instructions  to  discover  their  location.     Capt. 
Gross  struck  the  trail  the  enemy  made,  when  it  left  the  swamp  for 
Corrytown,  and  by  its  width,  estimated  the  number  to  be  three  or 
four  hundred  ;  he  sent  two  or  three  of  his  men  to  follow  the  trail 
to  its  starting  place,  while  he  retired  to  a  safe  and  convenient  point 
of  observation,  and  waited  for  his  men  to  return;  after  following 
the  trail  about  a  mile,  the  men   reached  the  encampment  in   the 
swamp,  discovered  a  large  number  of  packs,  and  that  some  of  the 
Indians   left  behind  were  engaged  in  cooking,  as  if  expecting  the 
main  body  to  return  for  the  Anight.     They,  undiscovered,  stole  a 
blanket  from  one  of  the   tents  and  then   hurried   back  to  report 
to  Capt.  Gross.    The  latter  at  once  sent  a  man  on  horseback  to  Col. 
Willett.     In  the  meantime  the  latter  was  busy  all  the  afternoon  in 
collecting  the   militia  and   getting   ready  to   start  at  a  moment's 
notice.     Capt.  McKean  reached  Corrytown  in  time  to  quench  the 
flames  in  one  or  two  of  the  dwellings  after  the  enemy  had  left,  but 
not  in  time,  nor  would  he  have  been  able  had  he  arrived  sooner,  to 
save  the  dozen  other  buildings,  which  Dockstader  and  his  men  burned 
to  the  ground,  nor  to  have  protected  the  inhabitants,  which  were 
murdered  or  carried  away  captives  by  that  superior  force.     There 
was  a  picketed  block  house  in  that  settlement  into  which  a  few 
hurried  and  were  saved,  while  others  sought  safety  by  hiding  in 
the  woods,  or  by  being  fleet  of"  foot.     Cattle  and  horse*  were  killed 
or  driven  away,  and,  when  the  Indians  left,  about  4  p.  M.,  they 
left  behind  them  a  sad  and  sickening  scene  of  desolation.     When 
.  word  from  Capt.   Gross  reached   Col.  Willett  it  was  near  night, 
and   he  at  once  set  off  for   the   swamp,  with    orders  for  Capt. 
McKean  and  Capt.  Vedder  at  Fort  Paris  (two  miles  northeast  of 
Fort  Plain)  to  follow.     It  was  Col.  Willett's  intention  to  reach  the 
camp  in  the  night,   surprise  and  attack  it  before  daylight,  but 
the  woods  were  thick,  with  no  road  better  than  a  bridle  path;  the 
night  was  dark,  and  the  guide  lost  his  way.  so  that  it  was  six  in  the. 
morning  before  Col.  Willett  and  Capts.  McKean  and  Gross  reached 
the  camp.     In  the  meantime  the  enemy  had  news  of  the  approach. 


30  COL.    MARINUS    WILLETT. 

and  had  changed  their  ground  to  a  more  advantageous  position, 
about  one-eighth  of  a  mile  northwest  of  Sharon  Centre,  instead  of 
one-half  a  mile  to  the  southwest,  where  they  encamped.  Col. 
Willett  divided  his  forces  into  two  parallel  lines,  or  in  the  form  of 
a  crescent  aud  placed  them  in  a  ravine  and  sent  a  small  detachment 
over  the  brow  of  the  hill  to  show  themselves  to  the  enemy  with 
orders  at  the  first  tire  to  retreat  and  draw  the  Indians  into  the 
ravine — much  like  the  trap  into  which  Herkimer  was  caught  at  the 
battle  of  O  risk  any.  The  decoy  succeeded  and  the  Indians  came 
rushing  on,  yelling,  whooping,  hallooing,  until  they  met  Col. 
Willett's  men ;  there  they  were  checked,  the  tide  of  battle 
turned,  and  after  a  sharp  fight  of  nearly  two  hours,  the  enemy  fled, 
Col.  Willett  .following  vigorously  in  the  pursuit,  calling  on  his 
men  to  follow,  while  he  waved  his  hat  and  shouted  at  the  top  of 
his  voice,  "  Come  on  boys,  the  day  is  ours.  I  can  catch  in  my  hat  all 
the  bullets  the  rascals  can  send,"  and  at  the  same  time,  gave  orders 
in  a  loud  tone  of  voice,  as  if  directing  a  detachment  to  reach  the  rear 
of  the  enemy  to  cut  off  their  retreat.  The  Indians  and  Tories 
were  thoroughly  frightened  and  fled  in  great  confusion,  leaving 
behind  the  plunder  and  booty  taken  the  day  before,  killing  some 
of  their  captives  and  hurrying  off  with  the  rest.  They  also  left 
behind  forty  of  their  own  dead  and  all  of  their  camp  equipage. 
The  victory  was  complete,  and  produced  inspiriting  effect  upon  the 
Americans.  The  loss  of  Col.  Willett  was  five  men,  among  whom 
was  the  brave  and  meritorious  Capt.  McKean  and  his  son.  The 
captain  was  shot  in  the  battle,  but  died  after  he  had  reached  Can- 
ajoharie.  Dockstader  and  his  men  hurriedly  left  the  valley,  he 
without  earning  the  commission  of  major,  which  he  expected,  and 
that  party  did  not  again  molest  the  Mohawk  settlements.  A  brief 
sketch  of  some  of  the  incidents  attending  this  invasion  will  be 
sufficient  to  indicate  the  trials  and  sufferings  the  inhabitants  of 
Tryon  county  passed  through  during  the  whole  period  of  the  rev 
olutionary  war.  The  attack  upon  Corrytown  was  so  wholly  un 
expected  the  settlers  were  not  prepared  for  it  \  most  of  them  were 
at  work  in  the  fields,  and  but  few  had  an  opportunity  to  reach  the 
picketed  inclosure.  Jacob  Diefendorf,  a  pioneer  settler,  with  his 
two  young  sons,  were  at  work  in  the  field;  one  of  the  sons,  12  or 
14  years  old,  was  tomahawked  and  scalped,  and  after  lying 
several  hours  insensible,  bathed  in  his  blood,  he  crawled  to  the 
picketed  enclosure,  without  knowing  what  he  was  doing.  On 
reaching  his  friends  he  imploringly  raised  his  hands  and  besought 


ADDRESS    OF    D.    E.    WAGER. 

them  not  to  kill  him  ;  his  wounds  were  dressed,  and  he  recovered 
and  lived  for  several  years  thereafter.  The  other  son  was  taken 
captive  and  carried  to  the  cedar  swamp,  and  when  the  Indians  where 
routed  by  Col.  Willett,  young  Diefendorf  was  scalped  and  left  for 
dead.  He  covered  himself  with  the  leaves  of  the  trees  to  keep  off 
the  flies  from  his  wound,  and  when  discovered,  covered  and  be 
grimed  with  blood,  he  was  at  first  supposed  to  be  an  Indian.  He 
was  taken  back  to  his  friends,  his  wounds  dressed,  and,  although  his 
head  was  five  years  in  healing,  he  eventually  recovered  and  became 
one  of  the  wealthiest  farmers  in  Montgomery  county.  He  died 
in  1859  at  the  age  of  85  years.  A  girl  a  dozen  years  old,  was 
also  taken  prisoner  to  that  cedar  swamp,  and  when  the  enemy 
were  defeated  and  found  they  could  not  take  their  young  captive 
with  them  to  Canada,  the  Indians  took  her  scalp,  as  they  did  not 
wish  to  lose  the  bounty  the  British  goverment  had  offered  for 
scalps.  When  the  -settlers  at  Corry town  saw  the  enemy  approach 
ing,  a  husband  and  father  started  from  his  house  with  his  family 
to  reach  the  picketed  block  house.  He  had  a  small  child  in  one  hand 
and  his  gun  in  the  other,  followed  by  his  wife  with  an  infant  in 
her  arms  and  several  children  on  foot  hold  of  her  dress.  A  savage 
fired  at  them,  the  bullet  passed  near  the  head  of  the  child  in  the 
father's  arms  and  lodged  in  the  pickets.  That  was  the  last  family 
that  reached  the  fort.  As  before  stated,  the  Indians  plundered  all 
of  the  buildings  in  the  neighborhood  and  set  them  on  fire,  and  all 
where  burned  except  one. 

The  news  of  Dockstader's  defeat  was  received  with  great  joy- 
throughout  the  country.  The  common  council  of  the  city  of 
Albany,  on  the  19th  of  the  month  the  battle  was  fought,  passed 
complimentary  resolutions  in  favor  of  Col.  Willett  and  his  officers 
and  men  for  their  bravery  and  intrepidity  in  that  battle  and  voted 
to  Col.  Willett  the  freedom  of  that  city.  That  battle  took  place 
on  July  10,  1781,  and  has  passed  into  history  as  "the  battle  of 
Sharon."  Its  centennial  anniversary  was  observed  in  July,  1881, 
by  the  inhabitants  of  that  part  of  the  State.  As  I  learn  from 
residents  of  that  locality  that  cedar  swamp  yet  remains,  covered 
with  trees,  about  as  impassable  as  ever,  except  in  very  dry  seasons 
or  in  the  coldest  of  weather,  when  the  grounds  and  the  small  lake 
in  the  center  are  frozen  hard.  Soon  after  that  battle  news  came 
to  Col.  Willett  at  one  o^clock  at  night  that  a  party  of  fifty  or  sixty- 
Indians  were  hovering  around  a  settlement  five  or  six  miles 
distant.  In  an.  hour's  time  he  had  a  captain  of  militia  company, 


32  COL.    MABINUS    WILLETT. 

with  seventy  men,  in  pursuit,  but  the  Indians  wisely  took  to  their 
lieels.  It  was  by  reason  of  such  promptness  and  the  celerity  of 
Col.  Willett's'  movements,  his  dash  in  battle,  and  his 
.seeming  ubiquity  that  the  Indians  had  such  a  dread  and  fear  of 
Jiim;  they  believed  he  possessed  supernatural  powers;  they  called 
him  "the  devil." 

During  that  summer  the  enemy  appeared  at  intervals  in  small 
numbers  in  different  parts  of  the  valley,  but  nothing  occurred  to 
dignify  it  with  the  name  of  an  invasion  or  a  raid. 

Over  three  months  had  passed  since  the  irruption  of  Dockstader; 
the  farmers  had  gathered  their  crops,  filled  their  granaries,  and 
partially  settled  down  into  the  belief  that  the  year  1781  would 
pass  along  without  any  more  formidable  invasions  of  the  valley, 
with  its  attendant  consequences.  If  such  a  hope  was  entertained, 
it  proved  illusory,  and  the  expectation  was  doomed  to  disappoint 
ment.  In  the  forenoon  of  Wednesday,  October  24th,  a  hostile 
force  of  700  men,  composed  of  British,  Indians  and  Tories  under 
the  command  of  Majors  Ross  and  Walter  N".  Butler  was  first  dis 
covered  in  the  valley  near  Argusville  in  Schoharie  county,  making 
its  way  towards  Corrytown.  That  expedition  was  organized  at 
Bucks,  now  called  Carleton  Island  in  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  thence 
it  proceeded  across  Lake  Ontario  to  Oswego,  thence  by  the  water 
route  to  Oneida  Lake  as  far  as  Chittenango  Creek;  at  that  point, 
the  boats  were  secreted,  and  the  men  struck  across  the  country 
through  Onondaga,  Madison  and  Otsego  counties,  to  the  vicinity 
in  Schoharie,  where  first  discovered.  The  enemy  proceeded  to 
Corrytown,  plundered  the  dwellings,  made  prisoners  of  the 
inhabitants,  but  avoided  setting  fires,  lest  they  might  alarm  the 
garrison  of  Col.  Willett,  and  thereby  be  frustrated  in  accomplish 
ing  their  undertaking.  From  that  point  they  proceeded  to  the 
Mohawk,  followed  it  down  on  the  south  side,  to  Fort  Hunter, 
where  Schoharie  Creek  empties  into  the  river;  they  arrived  at 
that  point  at  nightfall,  crossed  over  the  creek  into  what  was  then 
called  Warrensburgh,  now  the  town  of  Florida  in  Montgomery 
county.  Fearing  they  were  going  too  far  to  the  eastward,  they 
crossed  the  next  morning  to  the  northerly  side  of  the  Mohawk, 
cast  of  Tribe's  Hill,  and  by  a  circuitous  route  went  to  Johnstown 
^nd  the  old  baronial  hall  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  where  they 
arrived  at  noon  Thursday,  October  25th.  The  whole  track  of  the 
-enemy  was  marked  by  the  murder  or  capture  of  inhabitants, 
stealing  of  horses  and  cattle,  plunder  of  dwellings  and  destruction 


ADDRESS    OF    D.    E.    WAGER.  33 

>of  property.  Late  in  the  afternoon  of  the  day  the  enemy  was 
••seen  moving  down  the  river  towards  Fort  Hunter,  the  news  of 
their  march  was  brought  to  Col.  Willett;  he  immediately  mustered 
all  the  spare  forces  at  hand,  sent  orders  to  other  points  for  the 
militia  to  follow  on  after  him,  while  he  crossed  to  the  south  side  of 
the  Mohawk  in  pursuit.  He  marched  all  night,  and  reached  Fort 
Hunter,  some  twenty  miles  east  of  Canajoharie,  in  the  morning, 
and  was  proceeding  to  cross  Schoharie  Creek,  and  follow  the 
enemy  into  the  town  of  Florida,  when  he  learned  that  the  latter 
was  on  their  way  to  Johnstown.  The  Mohawk  was  deep  at  that 
point  and  not  fordable  and  Col.  Willett  was  obliged  to  procure 
boats  or  floats  to  get  his  men  over  that  river,  so  that  it  was  noon 
before  he  reached  the  north  side.  His  troops  were  at  once  formed 
in  marching  order  and  set  off  in  haste  for  Johnstown.  Col. 
Willett  had  416  men  ;  the  enemy  about  double  that  number.  They 
reached  Johnstown  about  the  middle  of  the  afternoon.  Col. 
Willett  sent  a  small  detachment  under  command  of  Major  Rowley 
to  the  east  to  attack  the  enemy  in  the  rear,  while  he  engaged  them 
in  front.  A  sharp  engagement  ensued,  resulting  in  driving  the 
enemy  into  the  edge  of  the  woods  near  by,  when  of  a  sudden, 
without  any  known  or  explainable  reason,  Willett's  men  were 
seized  with  a  panic  and  fled  from  the  field,  leaving  a  cannon  in 
possession  of  the  enemy,  and  some  of  them  seeking  refuge  in  a 
stone  church.  The  efforts  of  Col.  Willett  to  rally  them  were  in 
vain.  At  that  unfortunate  time  Major  Rowley's  force  came  upon 
the  enemy's  rear,  attacked  them  with  great  vigor,  throwing  them 
into  confusion  and  driving  them  from  the  field.  They,  however, 
rallied,  and  in  turn  drove  back  Major  Rowley,  and  the  two  con 
tending  forces  were  alternately  defeated,  and  so  the  fighting 
continued  until  sunset.  In  the  meantime  Col.  Willett  succeeded, 
in  gathering  his  men  and  returned  to  the  fight.  At  dark  the 
enemy  was  totally  beaten,  driven  further  into  the  woods,  and 
sought  safety  on  the  top  of  a  mountain,  six  miles  distant  to  the 
north.  After  dark  Col.  Willett  procured  lights  and  buried  the 
dead.  His  loss  was  forty  killed;  he  took  fifty  prisoners,  from 
whom  it  was  learned  that  the  enemy  intended  to  move  the  next 
day  upon  Stone  Arabia,  in  the  vicinity  of  what  is  now  known  as 
Palatine  Bridge,  with  a  view  to  obtain  provisions.  Col.  Willett 
moved  his  men  to  that  locality,  while  he  sent  a  scouting  party  to 
follow  the  enemy  and  keep  track  of  their  movements.  By  this 
scouting  party  he  learned  that  the  enemy  were  moving  north- 


34  COL.    MARINUS    WILLETT. 

t 

westerly,  nearly  parallel  with  the  Mohawk,  toward  the  northerly 
part  of  Herkimer  county,  as  if  it  was  the  intention  to  get  out  of 
the    reach    of    the    Americans,    and    then    strike    down    to    the 
Mohawk  and  across  the  country  to  Chittenango  Creek,  where  the 
boats  had  been  left.     To  prevent  such  a   movement,  Col.  Willett, 
on  the   morning   of 'Saturday,  October  27,  sent  a  detachment  to 
destroy  the  boats  while  he  marched  his  men  to  Fort  Herkimer,  on 
the   south   side  of  the   river,   some  two   miles  east  of  Herkimer 
village,  there  to  await  developments,  still  keeping  spies  on  the 
trail  of  the  enemy,  with  orders  to  send  swift  messengers  to  him  at 
every  turn  of  affairs.     Majors  Ross  and  Butler  marched  their  men 
at  a  slow  pace,  for  they  were  hemmed  in  the  woods,  short  of  pro 
visions,  and  exposed  to  great  dangers.     On  Monday,  October  29, 
they  encamped  in  a  thick  wood  in  the  north  part  of  what  is  now 
the  town  of  Norway,  about  half  a  mile  from  Black  Creek — an 
encampment  which   has   passed  down  by  traditions  as  "Butler's 
ridge."     Thus  it  will  be  seen,  by  looking  on  a  map  of  New  York, 
the  slow  progress  that  was  made  after  the   battle  of  Johnstown, 
some   forty   miles   distant.     During  the  four  days  the  enemy  was 
on  that  route  the  weather  was  cold  and  each  man  had  only  one- 
half  pound  of  horse  flesh  each  day  on  which  to  subsist.     On  the  28th 
the  detachment  returned,  which  Col.  Willett  had  sent  to  the  boats, 
without  having  accomplished   (for  some  reason,)  the  work  it  was 
sent    to    do.     Late  in   the  afternoon  of  Sunday,  October  28,  Col. 
Willett  received  word  that  the  enemy  were  striking  still  deeper 
into  the  wilderness,  as  if  to  make  their  escape  by  crossing  West 
Canada  Creek  miles  above  Trenton  Falls,  and  thence  steer  their 
course  through  a  pathless  forest,  via  the  Black  River  to  Carleton 
Island.     To  frustrate  that  move,  a  short  time  before  dark  of  the 
same  day,  Col.  Willett  selected  400  of  his  best  troops  with  sixty 
Oneida  Indians,  who  bad  that  day  joined  his  forces,  and  taking 
five  days'  provisions,  he   started  out,  crossed  the  Mohawk,  and 
followed  up  the  valley  of  West   Canada  Creek   and   encamped 
that   night    in   the   woods   above   Fort   Dayton    (now   Herkimer 
village). 

Early  the  next  morning,  Col.  Willett  and  his  men  were  astir, 
following  up  the  easterly  side  of  the  creek,  to  what  is  now 
Middleville,  marching  in  the  rnidst  of  a  driving  snow  storm,  and 
pushing  their  way  in  a  northeasterly  direction,  into  the  north  part 
of  the  town  of  Norway,  and  at  dark,  encamped  for  the  night  in 
a  dense  wood,  about  a  mile,  as  it  turned  out,  from  the  enemy's 


ADDRESS    OF    D.    E.    WAGER.  35 

encampment.  A  scouting  party  was  at  once  sent  forward  to 
discover  the  location  of  the  foes,  and  to  ascertain  whether  Col. 
Willett  was  in  their  front  or  rear ;  that  party  soon  returned  with 
the  news  of  the  proximity  of  the  retreating  forces,  and  at  first, 
Col.  Willett  thought  to  make  a  night  attack,  but  as  the  enemy 
had  a  supply  of  bayonets  which  his  men  had  not,  he  concluded  to 
wait  until  the  morrow.  At  break  of  day,  Tuesday,  October  30, 
the  Americans  were  again  on  foot,  a  scout  having  been  sent  ahead 
to  learn  what  the  enemy  were  doing.  The  main  body  of  the  men 
of  Ross  and  Butler  were  up  as  early  as  the  pursuers  and  on  the 
march,  a  detachment  being  in  the  rear  as  a  guard,  and  to  bring  on 
the  baggage  and  provisions ;  that  scouting  party  got  in  between 
the  advance  and  rear  forces,  and  one  of  them  was  shot  while 
the  others  hurried  back  to  Willett  with  the  news.  The  pursuers 
were  hurriedly  pushed  forward,  and  overtook  the  enemy  near 
Black  Creek,  an  engagement  ensued,  in  which  the  enemy  were 
compelled  to  retreat;  frequent  skirmishes  took  place  all  the  way 
to  West  Canada  Creek,  some  two  or  three  miles,  the  enemy 
seeming  perfectly  discouraged  and  demoralized  and  only  too 
anxious  to  get  out  of  reach  and  harm's  way.  They  reached  West 
Canada  Creek,  hurriedly  crossed,  and  when  on  the  opposite  shore 
rallied  and  another  sharp  skirmish  ensued — the  creek  separating 
the  combatants.  In  that  engagement  Walter  N".  Butler  was  shot 
and  instantly  killed,  as  Col.  Willett  says,  the  ball  entered  his  eye 
and  passed  out  the  back  part  of  his  head.  Accounts  differ  as  to 
whether  Butler  was  killed  by  a  random  shot,  or  by  one  taking 
deliberate  aim,  and  also  as  to  whether  he  was  scalped.  The  most 
reliable  account  is,  that  he  was  killed  by  a  stray  bullet  and  that 
he  was  not  scalped,  as  Col.  Willett  makes  no  mention  of  it  in  his 
narrative,  but  simply  says,  "  he  was  shot  dead."  Thus  perished 
Walter  N.  Butler,  the  greatest  scourge,  the  most  cruel  and  in 
human  monster,  and  the  worst  hated  Tory,  who  inflicted  his 
presence  upon  the  border  settlements  of  Pennsylvania  and  New 
York.  His  father  later  on  offered  a  reward  for  the  recovery  of 
the  body,  but  it  was  never  restored  to  him,  nor  would  the 
American  soldiers  accord  it  a  burial;  they  left  it  to  bleach  and  rot 
upon  the  identical  ground  where  it  had  fallen.  The  news  of  this 
victory  and  death  spread  through  the  valley,  about  the  time  that 
the  tidings  came  of  the  capture  of  the  army  of  Cornwallis  at 
Yorktown:  yet  that  surrender  did  not  give  more,  if  so  much,  joy- 
to  the  inhabitants  of  the  valley,  as  the  assurance  that  Walter  N. 


36  COL.    MAKINUS    WILLETT. 

Butler  had  passed  from  earth.  After  the  shooting  of  Butler  the 
enemy  fled  in  confusion,  and  at  a  rapid  gait,  leaving  behind  packs 
and  all  that  encumbered  their  retreat,  and  struck  off  through  the 
dense  and  pathless  wilderness  in  the  direction  of  the  valley  of  the 
Black  River.  After  seven  days'  journey,  of  innumerable  suffer 
ings  and  untold  hardships,  they  reached  Carleton  Island,  eighty 
miles  distant,  in  a  famishing  condition,  many  of  the  men  who 
crossed  Canada  Creek  having  perished  by  the  way.  Col.  Willett 
and  his  men  crossed  that  stream  and  followed  in  pursuit  until 
nearly  dark;  but  as  the  Americans  were  getting  short  of  provisions, 
and  as  the  enemy  retreated  with  such  rapidity,  it  was  deemed 
prudent  to  return,  as  the  victory  was  as  complete  as  if  the  whole 
of  the  enemy's  forces  were  captured.  On  the  return  to  recross  the 
creek,  the  Americans  discovered  a  five-year-old  white  girl  near  a 
fallen  tree,  crying  piteously.  She  had  been  stolen  from  her 
parents,  but  as  the  Indians  did  not  wish  to  be  further  encumbered 
with  her,  they  left  the  waif  where  she  was  found,  near  the  fallen 
tree.  The  little  girl  was  taken  in  charge  and  restored  to  her 
friends  down  the  valley.  The  place  of  the  enemy's  crossing  on 
West  Canada  Creek  is  about  five  miles  up  the  stream  from  Gang, 
or  Hinkley's  Mills,  and  nearly  double  that  distance  above  Trenton 
Falls.  It  is  near  the  line  between  the  towns  of  Russia  and  Ohio 
in  Herkimer  county.  At  that  point  the  stream  is  fordable  for  two 
or  three  miles,  owing  to  the  rifts  and  to  small  and  large  stones  in 
the  channel  of  the  creek.  It  is  now  known  as  "  Hess's  Rifts,"  and 
the  crossing  place  is  called  by  some  "  Butler's  Ford." 

In  the  pocket  of  Butler  when  his  dead  body  was  found  was  the 
same  commission  he  exhibited  on  his  trial  as  a  spy  four  years  before 
at  the  time  Col.  Willett  acted  as  judge  advocate  some  ten  days 
after  the  battle  of  Oriskany.  Let  me  state  in  this  connection  and 
by  way  of  parenthesis  that  Dr.  William  Petry  (grandfather  of 
Judges  Robert  and  Samuel  Earl  of  Herkimer,)  was  surgeon  general 
in  Col.  Willett's  regiment,  appointed  in  April,  1781,  and  was  in 
this  expedition ;  and  was  all  through  the  war1,  and  was  wounded  at 
the  battle  of  Oriskany  four  years  before. 

The  loss  of  the  enemy  in  this  October  incursion  of  Ross  and 
Butler  was  never  known.  Col.  Willett's  official  dispatches  contain 
the  following:  "  The  fields  of  Johnstown,  the  brooks  and  rivers, 
the  hills  and  mountains,  the  deep  and  gloomy  marshes  and  dense 
woods  through  which  they  had  to  pass,  these  only  could  tell ;  and 
perhaps  the  officers  who  detached  them  on  this  expedition."  Gen. 


ADDRESS    OF    D.    E.    WAGER.  37 

Heath,  the  American  commander  of  the  northern  frontier,  issued 
a  general  order  in  November,  1781,  commending  Lord  Sterling, 
Gen.  Stark  and  others  for  their  services  that  year,  and  mentions 
the  battle  of  Johnstown,  the  defeat  of  Ross  and  Butler  and  the 
death  of  the  latter,  and  adds:  "The  general  presents  his  thanks 
to  Col.  Willett  whose  address,  gallantry  and  persevering  activity 
exhibited  on  this  occasion  do  him  highest  honor." 

This  expedition  closed  the  war  in  the  valley  of  the  Mohawk  for 
that  year.  In  fact,  there  was  no  longer  much  of  anything  left  in 
that  valley  for  a  hostile  expedition  to  destroy;  the  inhabitants  had 
lost  pretty  much  all,  except  the  soil  they  cultivated,  most  of  their 
fine  farms  had  been  turned  into  a  wilderness  waste,  except  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  forts,  and  at  times  hunger  stared  the  settlers  in  the 
face,  and  famine  seemed  inevitable.  These  resistances  in  the 
valley,  may  seem  unimportant,  because  no  great  battles  were 
fought,  and  no  great  victories  won;  nevertheless  they  stemmed 
the  tide  of  the  enemy's  advance  into  the  interior,  and  kept  them 
back  from  the  towns  of  the  Hudson,  and  prevented  the  establish 
ment  of  a  chain  of  forts  along  that  river,  which  was  a  favorite 
scheme  and  a  long  cherished  hope  and  object  of  the  British. 

For  the  year  1782,  Col.  Willett  remained  at  his  headquarters  on 
the  Mohawk,  but  no  considerable  force  of  the  enemy  appeared  at 
any  one  time,  to  molest  the  inhabitants  of  Tryon  county.  Small 
and  scattering  bodies  of  Indians  appeared  at  various  places,  caus 
ing  trouble  and  creating  alarm,  but  no  very  serious  disturbances 
occurred.  The  exigencies  of  the  times  required  vigilance  and 
alertness  on  the  part  of  Col.  Willett,  and  the  sending  of  squads 
of  troops  in  the  night,  several  miles  into  the  wilderness,  or  into 
neighboring  localities,  to  drive  out  the  enemy,  or  to  discover  if  > 
one  was  near,  yet  the  campaign  of  1782  closed  without  any 
important  event  in  Tryon  county.  The  substantial  fighting  of  the 
war  ended  with  the  surrender  of  Cornwalli?,  and  negotiations  for 
peace  between  the  two  countries  were  commenced  in  Europe  near 
the  close  of  the  year  of  1782.  For  nearly  a  year  there  was  an 
armistice,  nevertheless,  none  of  the  efforts  of  the  American  officers 
were  relaxed,  to  preserve  the  discipline  of  the  troops  and  to  keep 
the  country  in  an  attitude  of  defense.  The  recruiting  of  New 
York  State  troops  had  been  successful  that  year,  by  reason  of  the 
legislature  offering  a  bounty  of  money,  instead  of  a  bounty  in 
lands,  so  that  at  the  close  of  the  year  1782,  Col.  Willett  had  a 
regiment  of  400  State  troops.  Having  prepared  winter  barracks 


38  COL.    MARINUS    WILLETT. 

for  his  men,  inoculated  many  of  them  for  small  pox,  and  built  a 
log  hut  for  himself,  Col.  Willett  set  out  the  last  of  November  for 
Albany.  Thence  he  went  to  Fishkill  for  his  wife,  with  the  inten 
tion  to  take  her  to  his  winter  quarters  during  the  winter  of  1782-3. 
At  that  time  Gen.  Washington's  headquarters  were  at  Newburgh, 
opposite  Fishkill  Landing,  and  there  Col.  Willett  went  to  pay  his 
respects  to  the  Commander-in-chief ;  he  remained  to  dinner,  and  as 
he  left  the  table  and  arose  to  depart,  Washington  invited  Col. 
Willett  into  the  office,  and  unfolded  a  secret  plan  of  sending  an 
expedition  the  then  coming  winter  to  surprise  and  capture  Oswego. 
Col.  Willett  was  asked  to  lead  the  expedition.  The  latter  had 
made  arrangements  for  passing  the  winter  with  his  wife  in  com 
fortable  quarters,  and  it  was  with  reluctance  that  he  hesitated  to 
accept  the  request  of  the  commander  in-chief.  He  departed  with  a 
promise  to  think  of  it?  and  let  Washington  soon  know  the  result 
of  his  conclusions.  A  correspondence  ensued,  and  as  Gen. 
Washington  desired  to  keep  the  matter  a  profound  secret,  the 
correspondence  on  his  part  was  in  his  own  handwriting.  Col. 
Willett  accepted  the  position.  At  that  time  Oswego  was  one  of 
the  most  formidable  defenses  on  this  continent,  and  had  given  the 
enemy  by  its  possession,  and  that  of  Niagara,  great  advantage 
during  the  war.  The  whole  expedition  was  to  be  one  of  secrecy, 
for  upon  it  depended  its  success,  and  the  positive  instructions  of 
Washington  to  Col.  Willett  were,  not  to  attack  nor  attempt  to 
capture  Oswego,  except  by  surprise.  On  Saturday,  the  8th  of 
February,  1783,  the  troops  were  suddenly  assembled  at  Fort 
Herkimer,  and  a  large  portion  of  them  supplied 'with  snow  shoes, 
as  they  had  no  beaten  track  to  follow,  and  the  snow  was  from  two 
and  one-half  to  three  feet  deep.  The  men  thus  provided  went 
ahead  and  made  a  track  for  a  cavalcade  of  200  sleighs  that 
followed,  carrying  the  remainder  of  the  troops  and  the  baggage. 
The  expedition  reached  Oneida  Lake  Sunday  night,  February  9, 
and  crossed  it  that  night  on  the  ice,  and  arrived  at  Fort  Brewer- 
ton,  at  the  foot  of  the  lake,  where  the  sleighs  were  left,  and  the 
men  followed  the  river  on  ice  to  Oswego  Falls  (now  Fulton)  and 
arrived  there  about  2  p.  M.,  February  10.  There  they  went  into  the 
woods,  made  ladders  and  the  prospect  of  stealing  unawares  upon  the 
garrison  and  capturing  the  fort  was  everything  that  could  be  desired. 
At  10  o'clock  that  night  the  expedition  reached  a  point  of  land 
about  four  miles  from  the  fort;  here  on  account  of  the  weakness 
of  the  ice  on  Oswego  River,  men  were  obliged  to  take  to  the  land, 


ADDRESS    OF    I).    E.    WAGER. 


39 


.and  pursue  the  route  through  the  woods.  An  Oneida  Indian,  who 
was  considered  every  way  trustworthy  and  reliable,  and  supposed 
to  be  familiar  with  the  woods  and  the  route,  was  selected  as  a  guide. 
Four  hours  remained  before  the  moon  set,  the  tim3  appointed  to 
attack  the  fort,  then  four  miles  distant. 

The  guide  took  the  lead,  the  men  following  his  track.     In  two 
hours'  time,  not  discovering  an  opening  in  the  woods,  Col.  Willett 
went  to  the  front  to  ascertain  the  cause,  and  learned  the  guide  was 
considerably  ahead  and  the  men  following  blindly  on  the  tracks  in 
the  snow  ;  in  the  course  of  an  hour  the  guide  was  overtaken  and 
found  standing  still,  apparently  lost  and  bewildered.    The  men  had 
been  led  into  a  swamp,  some  in  sunken  holes  and  many  had  frozen 
feet  and  one  man  was  frozen  to  death.     The  guide  had  struck 
other  tracks  in  the  snow,  which  he  followed  supposing  they  led  to 
the  fort,  but  instead,  they  led  in  another  direction  down  the  lake. 
In  this  perplexity  there    was    no    alternative    but    to  forego  the 
attack  on  the  fort,  and  to  retrace  their  steps.     The  men  were  in  the 
woods  three  days  without  provisions,  and  were  gone  twelve  days 
on  the  expedition.     Before  they  left  Fort    Herkimer  peace  had 
been  concluded  in  Europe,  but  it  was  not  known  in  this  country; 
while  this  expedition  was  on  its  way  to  Oswego,  the  news  of  peace 
was   received  by'Congress.     After   Col.    Willett   returned  to  his 
headquarters  he  went   to  Albany  and   there   heard  the  glorious 
news  proclaimed  to  the  rejoicing  inhabitants  by  the  town  clerk  at 
the   city  hall.     In  Col.  Willett's  "  narrative,"  the  letters  to  him 
from  Gen.  Washington  in  relation  to  that  expedition,  are  published, 
and   the   one  of  March  5,  1783,  completely  exonerates  him  from 
all  blame  and  expresses  the  high  sense  which  the  commander-in- 
chief  entertained  oi  Col.   Willett's  persevering  exertions  and  zeal 
on  that  expedition,  and  tendered  his  warmest  thanks  on  the  occas 
ion. 

On  Friday,  April  11.  1783,  Congress  issued  its  proclamation 
announcing  a  cessation  of  hostilities  on  sea  and  land,  and  once  again 
smiling  peace  prevailed  throughout  the  borders.  The  thirteen 
colonies  were  now  a  free  and  independent  nation,  the  armies  were 
disbanded,  the  soldiers  returned  to  the  peacful  pursuits  of  life,  ex 
changed  the  weapons  of  war  for  the  implements  of  husbandry, 
the  scattered  population  of  the  country  gradually  gathered  at  their 
firesides,  at  their  old  homes,  and  once  more  the  people  of  Tyron 
county  rejoiced  and  smiled  through  their  tears. 

And  now  was  to  follow  the  inauguration  of  a  new  government,  the 


40  COL.    MARINUS    WILLETT. 

adoption  of  a  new  civil  polity  and  the  creation  of  new  offices.  Old 
things  were  to  be  done  away  and  all  things  to  become  new.  There- 
was  a  general  hatred  of  everything  that  was  English,  and  a  universal 
feeling  that,  as  far  as  possible,  it  should  be  banished  from  the 
land.  The  name  of  Kings'  College  was  changed  to  that  of  Columbia. 
The  county  of  Charlotte,  named  in  honor  of  England's  queen, 
the  wife  of  George  III,  of  revolutionary  times,  was,  by  an  act  of 
the  legislature  of  April,  1784,  changed  to  that  of  Washington; 
while  by  the  same  act  of  the  legislature,  and  as  a  grateful  tribute 
and  sense  of  poetic  justice,  the  county  named  after  the  hated  and 
last  Tory  governor  of  New  york,  the  county  wherein  Col.  Willett 
achieved  his  grandest  triumphs,  was  given  the  name  of  the 
patriot,  Montgomery,  under  whom  Capt.  Willett  won  his  first 
laurels  in  battling  for  the  existence  of  the  infant  republic.  These 
are  but  a  few  instances  of  the  changes  effected.  So,  too,  those  who 
had  served  faithfully  and  honorably  in  the  war,  were  generally 
remembered  and  rewarded  in  the  civil  appointments  in  the  State, 
although  no  law  was  passed,  as  there  was  100  years  later,  requiring 
such  appointments  to  be  preferential.  Col.  Samuel  Clyde,  a  major 
at  the  battle  of  Oriskany,  and  who  had  rendered  efficient  services 
in  the  Mohawk  valley  as  an  officer  in  the  American  army,  was 
appointed  the  first  sheriff  of  Montgomery  county,  Col.  Colbrath, 
another  officer  in  the  patriot  army, and  lieutenant  in  the  "Sullivan 
expedition,"  was  appointed  the  first  sheriff  of  Herkimer,  and  later, 
the  first  one  of  Oneicla.  Col.  Willett  was  elected  to  the  assembly 
from  New  York  in  1783,  and  the  next  year  appointed  sheriff  of 
that  county  for  three  years.  To  be  "  high  sheriff"  was  considered 
in  those  times  of  more  importance,  dignity  and  consequence  than 
in  these  days  to  be  governor  of  the  State.  The  grandfather  of 
Col.  Willett  was  sheriff  of  Queens  county  in  1820,  and  his  ances 
tors  sheriffs  of  that  county  as  follows:  Thomas  Willett  in  1683, 
Elbert  inl705,  Thomas  in  1707,  Cornelius  in  1708  and  Thomas  in 
1770.  In  1790  Col.  Willett  was  appointed  by  President  Washing 
ton  commissioner  to  the  Creek  Indians,  on  a  peace  mission,  that 
tribe  havino-  assumed  a  hostile  attitude.  He  left  in  March  and  was 

O 

absent  four  months,  and  was  eminently  successful  in  his  errand, 
and  war  was  averted.  Col.  Willett's  thorough  acquaintance  with 
Indian  character,  habits,  modes  of  thought  and  reasoning,  pe 
culiarly  fitted  him  for  such  a  mission.  In  1791  he  was  again  ap 
pointed  sheriff  of  New  York,  and  held  the  office  this  time  for 
four  years.  Col.  Willett  was  of  powerful  frame  and  of  great 


ADDRESS    OF    D.    E.    WAGER.  41 

physical  strength,  and,  of  course,  perfectly  fearless.  It  is  stated 
that  while  sheriff,  to  quell  a  riotous  assemblage,  he  collared  the 
ringleader,  a  brawny,  broad  shouldered,  two-fisted  butcher,  and 
laid  his  prostrate  form,  on  the  floor,  where  he  was  held  as  power 
less  as  a  hoppled  sheep.  In  1792  Col.  Willett  was  elected  one  of  the 
directors  of  the  Western  Inland  Lock  Navigation  Canal,  the  object 
being  internal  improvements,  to  connect  the  waters  of  the  Hudson 
with  Lakes  George  and  Champlain  and  those  of  the  Mohawk  with 
Wood  Creek  at  Rome.  In  the  same  year  a  general  Indian  war 
with  the  western  tribes  was  apprehended,  and  Col.  Willett  was 
tendered  the  office  of  brigadier  general  in  the  United  States  army. 
This  position  he  declined  as  he  was  not  in  favor  of  thus  dealing 
with  the  Indians  ;  his  advocacy  of  peace  policy  was  adopted  and 
war  avoided.  In  1807  he  was  appointed  mayor  of  New  York  in 
place  of  DeWitt  Clinton  and  was,  a  year  later,  succeeded  by  Mr. 
Clinton.  That  office  in  those  times  of  Col.  Willett  was  one  of 
great  honor,  dignity  and  emolument,  and  was  sought  after  by  men? 
of  ability  and  high  standing.  It  is  said  to  have  been  worth  from 
$10,000  to  $15,000  a  year,  and  Col.  Willett  said  that  office  yielded 
him  a  greater  revenue  during  the  year  he  held  it,  than  did  the 
seven  years'  office  of  sheriff.  In  1803  when  DeWitt  Clinton  was 
first  appointed  to  that  office,  he  resigned  the  office  of  United 
States  Senator  to  accept  it,  and  he  had  for  his  competitors  Edward 
Livingston,  Morgan  Lewis,  then  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  State,  and  the  next  year  elected  Governor. 

The  great-grandfather  of  Col.  Willett,  it  will  be  remembered, 
was  the  first  English  mayor  of  New  York.  In  1811  DeWitt 
Clinton  was  the  nominee  for  the  office  of  lieutenant-governor  of 
one  branch  of  his  party,  and  Col.  Willett  of  the  other  branch. 
Col.  Nicholas  Fish,  of  the  army  of  the  revolution,  father  of 
Hamilton  Fish,  afterward  governor,  was  the  Federal  nominee. 
The  latter  received  an  overwhelming  majority  in  New  York  city  as 
the  opponents  of  Mr.  Clinton,  in  his  own  party,  voted  direct  for 
Mr.  Fish,  as  the  surer  way  of  defeating  Mr.  Clinton.  .But  the- 
latter  was  elected,  as  he  was  strong  in  the  rural  districts.  Ham 
mond's  Political  History  of  New  York,  in  referring  to  this  contest, 
says  that  Col.  Willett  had  been  an  officer  of  great  merit  in  tha 
revolutionary  war,  and  in  private  life  was  regarded  as  an  amiable 
and  worthy  citizen,  but  he  had  been  somewhat  wavering  in  politics- 
and,  in  former  day?,  had  been  inclined  to  support  the  faction  of 
Aaron  Burr.  In  the  war  of  1812  an  immensely  large  public  wai? 


4:2  COL.    MARINUS    WILLETT. 

meeting  was  held  in  City  Hall  Park  in  August,  1814,  to  support 
that  war  and  approve  the  measures  of  President  Madison.  Col. 
Willett  addressed  that  meeting  and,  while  standing  beneath  the  flag 
of  the  nation,  which  waved  over  his  head,  he  made  a  brief,  but 
telling  speech,  which  awakened  unbounded  enthusiasm  and 
applause.  He  said  it  was  a  favorite  toast  in  the  war  of  the  revolu 
tion  that  "May  every  citizen  become  a  soldier,  and  every  soldier  a 
citizen,"  and  that  the  time  had  again  come  when  our  citizens  must 
be  soldiers.  He  concluded  his  brief  speech  as  follows :  "  In  the 
war  of  the  revolution  there  was  a  chorus  to  a  song  we  used  to  sing 
in  camp,  in  days  of  much  more  danger,  which  ran  as  follows: 

Let  Europe  empty  all  her  force, 
We'll  meet  them  in  array 
And  shout  Huzza,  Huzza,  Huzza. 
For  life  anVl  liberty. 

This  pithy  discourse  from  an  old  man,  near  seventy-five  years 
of  age,  whose  services  in  behalf  of  his  country  were  well  known, 
was  applauded  to  the  very  echo. 

In  the  Greek  revolution  of  1823  Col.  Willett  warmly  sympa 
thized  with  the  oppressed  of  that  country.  He  was  chairman  of 
a  committee  appointed  to  aid  the  Greeks  in  their  struggle  for  in 
dependence.  A  large  meeting  was  held  in  the  park  in  New  York 
city,  which  was  addressed  by  Col.  Willett. 

In  that  speech,  he  referred  to  the  fact  that  it  was  in  the  same 
place,  where  he  assisted  in  1765  in  burning  effigies  of  those  who 
aided  in  the  passage  of  the  odious  stamp  act;  the  same  park, 
where  enthusiastic  meetings  were  held  in  1775,  in  favor  of 
American  independence  in  which  he  took  part;  that  those  were 
glorious  times  for  him,  and  that  the  struggle  of  the  Greeks  was 
not  unlike  that  of  the  Americans  for  freedom.  He  offered  to  aid 
the  cause  of  Greece  by  donating  2,000  acres  of -land  to  which  he 
was  entitled  by  an  act  of  the  legislature  of  New  York,  passed  in 
March,  1781.  He  said  his  labors  in  defending  the  frontiers  of 
New  York,  by  which  he  earned  that  bounty,  were  by  far  the  most 
arduous  of  any  that  he  performed  during  the  whole  revolutionary 
war;  that  there  was  more  fatigue,  more  hazard  and  more  anxiety 
in  one  of  those  campaigns  than  in  seven  such  as  he  had  served 
under  Washington.  Such  is  Col.  Willett'a  testimony  as  to  his 
labors  in  Tryon  county.  In  1824,  presidential  electors  in  New 
York  were  appointed  by  the  legislature;  Col.  Willett  was  one  of 
the  appointees,  and  was  elected  president  of  the  electoral  college. 


ADDRESS    OF    D.    E.    WAG-ER. 

TThether  he  voted  for  John  Quincy  Adams,  Gen.  Jackson,  Henry- 
Clay  or  William  H.  Crawford,  all  them  candidates,  I  have  not 
ascertained.  In  1824,  President  Monroe,  pursuant  to  a  resolve  of 
Congress  invited  LaFayette  to  become  the  guest  of  this  nation; 
he  accepted  the  invitation,  but  modestly  declined  the  offer  of  a 
conveyance  to  this  country  in  a  United  Slates  ship  of  the  line. 
He  left  Havre  July  12,  1824,  and  after  a  voyage  of  34  days,  arrived 
off  Sandy  Hook  quite  early  in  the  morning  of  Sunday,  August  15. 
Forty  thousand  people  crowded  the  Battery  to  cheer  and  welcome 
his  coming.  Among  the  very  first  to  meet  and  take  LaFayette 
by  the  hand,  was  Joseph  Bonaparte,  then  residing  at  Bordentown, 
New  Jersey,  ex-king  of  Spain,  and  brother  of  the  great  Napoleon. 
At  9  o'clock  in  the  morning,  a  small  vessel  steamed  up  to  quaran 
tine  to  take  LaFayette  direct  to  the  city,  but  as  it  was  Sunday 
and  he  was  to  have  a  public  reception  in  New  York  on  the  mor 
row  he  declined  to  go,  but,  instead,  went  straightway 
to  the  residence  of  Vice  President  Daniel  D.  Tompkins  on  Staten 
Island.  It  was  near  forty  years  since  LaFayette  had  left  this 
country,  and  when  his  feet  once  again  touched  American  soil,  the 
memories  of  the  past,  the  great  changes  since  his  first  coming,  came 
rushing  to  the  front  in  the  thoughts  of  the  thronging  multitude 
who  witnessed  his  landing,  and  the  emotions  were  too  great  for 
suppression — too  great  to  find  utterance,  except  by  salutes  from  all 
the  ships  in  the  harbor,  the  ro.iring  of  cannon,  the  ringing  of  bells 
and  the  loud  acclaim  of  the  people  that  the  illustrious  guest  of  the 
nation  might  receive  a  joyous  and  universal  welcome.  Nothing 
like  it  had  ever  before  been  witnessed  on  this  continent.  In  the 
afternoon  a  vessel  steamed  over  to  Staten  Island,  taking  a  deputa 
tion  from  the  common  council  of  New  York  and  a  number  of  offi 
cers  and  soldiers  of  the  revolutionary  army,  who  had  served  under 
or  with  LaFayette.  Among  the  number  was  Col.  Willett. 
Those  two  became  acquainted  in  1 778,  while  with  Washington  in 
the  Jerseys  and  at  the  battle  of  Monmouth  on  June  28  of  that 
year.  A  correspondence  had  been  kept  up  between  them  subse 
quent  to  the  close  of  the  war,  and  many  of  LaFayette's  letters  are 
now  in  possession  of  the  youngest  son  of  Col.  Willett  and  are  in  an 
excellent  state  of  preservation  and  show,  in  their  perfect  legibility 
and  neatness,  the  care  with  which  LaFayette's  correspondence 
•was  always  conducted.  The  English  of  the  letters  is  faultless  in 
construction  and  orthography.  For  the  purpose  of  preservation, 
and  as  showing  the  strong  friendship  existing  between  those  two 


COL.    MAEIXUS    WILLETT. 

soldiers,  I  herewith  copy  the  whole  of  one  letter  and  extracts  from 
others: 

PARIS,  July  13,  1822. 
My  Dear  Sir : 

I  avail  myself  of  a  good  opportunity  to  remind  you  of  your  old  friend  and 
fellow-soldier  in  whose  heart  no  time  or  distance  can  abate  the  patriotic  re 
membrance  and  personal  affections  of  our  Revolutionary  career.  We  remain 
but  two  survivors  of  that  glorious  epoch  in  which  the  fate  of  the  two  hemis 
pheres  has  been  decided.  It  is  an  additional  reason  to  cherish  more  and  more 
the  ties  of  brotherly  friendship  which  unite  us.  I  find  myself  again  engaged 
in  a  critical  struggle  between  right  and  privilege. 

May  it  be  in  my  power  before  I  join  our  departed  companions  to  visit  such 
of  them  as  are  still  inhabitants  of  the  United  States  and  to  tell  you  person 
ally  my  dear  Willett,  how  affectionately  I  am 

Your  sincere  friend 

LAFAYETTE. 

Under  date  of  July  1,  1824,  a  short  time  before  LaFayette^ 
sailed  from  Europe  he  wrote  Col.  Willett  in  which  he  says:  "The 
time  most  happy  to  me  approaches  when  I  shall  embrace  my  old 
friend  and  brother  soldiers,"  and  conclude?,  "  most  truly  and  affec 
tionately  yours,  LaFayette." 

Under  date  of  April  12,  J826,  after  his  return  to  Franco,  he 
writes :  "  Happy  I  am  in  every  opportunity  to  renew  and  to  form 
American  connections.  In  so  pleasing  company  I  enjoy  those 
feelings  of  American  home  which  were  never  obliterated  in  my 
mind.  Be  pleased  dear  Willett,  to  let  me  hear  from  you  and  of 
the  state  of  your  health.  Present  my  affectionate  regards  tirst  in 
your  house,  then  to  your  neighbors  and  to  all  our  military  com 
panions  and  other  friends  in  Xew  York.  Ever  truly  and  affec 
tionately  your  old  friend  and  brother  in  arms,  LaFayette." 

Under  date  of  April  6,  1828,  he  writes :  "  My  dear  Willett :  It 
is  fit  I  should  present  to  our  senior  revolutionary  comrade  a  son 
of  the  illustrious  and  unfortunate  Marshal  Ney,  who  intends  to- 
visit  the  United  States.  I  doubly  rejoice  in  every  opportunity  to 
hear  from  you  and  to  offer  the  best  wishes  and  tender  regards  of 
your  affectionate  brother  soldier,  LaFayette." 

Under  date  of  Christmas,  1828,  he  writes  again  and  concludes 
his  letter  as  follows : 

Be  pleased  to  remember  me  most  affectionately  to  all  our  dear  comrades  in 
New  York  and  vicinity  and  to  your  family  knowing  me  to  be  forever 
Your  affectionate  friend  and  brother  in  arms, 

LAFAYETTE. 
Col.  Willett. 


ADDRESS    OF    D.    E.    WAGER.  45 

The  meeting  between  LaFayette  and  Col.  Willett,  at  the  house 
•of  Vice  President  Tompkins  is  described  by  an  eye-witness  as 
extremely  affectionate  and  touching.  They  embraced  and  kissed 
each  other  over  and  over  again,  like  devoted  lovers,  and  LaFayette 
talking  to  Col.  Willett  very  tenderly.  The  former  was  then  sixty- 
seven  years  old,  and  Col.  Willett  eighty-four.  During  the  time 
LaFayette  was  in  New  York  he  was  a  frequent  visitor  at  Col. 
Willett's  residence,  and  the  two  were  as  much  together  as  LaFay 
ette  could  find  time  to  spare  from  the  receptions  and  ovations 
almost  constantly  awaiting  him.  On  Friday,  August  20th,  the 
nation's  guest  left  New  York  for  Boston,  in  a  coach  drawn  by  four 
white  horse?,  accompanied  by  numerous  delegations  and  escorted 
by  the  military.  That  same  eye-witness,  who  describes  that  visit 
of  LaFayette,  says  that  the  cavalcade  which  escorted  him  from 
the  city,  passed  in  its  route  fields  of  cabbages,  and  other  agri 
cultural  products  then  growing  upon  the  site  now  occupied  by 
the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel.  Those  yet  alive,  whose  memories  go 
back  sixty-five  years,  may  remember  LaFayette's  tour  through 
this  valley  in  1825. 

The  legislature  of  New  York,  by  an  act  passed  in  October,  1779, 
attainted  fifty-eight  persons  (three  of  whom  were  ladies)  of  treason, 
and  confiscated  their  property.  Among  the  number  was  John 
Tabor  Kempe,  the  last  Tory  Attorney  General  of  New  York,  and 
then  the  owner  of  one-sixteenth  of  Coxe's  Patent,  or  tract  of 
47,000  acres,  which  stretches  across  what  are  now  Rome,  Westmore 
land,  Whitestown,  Kirkland,  New  Hartford,  Marshall,  Paris  and 
Bridgewater,  in  Oneida  county.  His  wife  before  marriage  was 
Grace  Coxe,  one  of  the  patentees  and  also  part  owner  of  that 
patent.  On  a  subdivision  of  that  patent  and  a  sale  of  Mr.  Kempe's 
share  under  that  confiscation  act,  George  Washington,  Governor 
George  Clinton  and  Col.  Willett  became  owners  of  land  in  the 
patent.  Col.  Willett  became  purchaser,  in  August,  1784,  of  over 
seven  hundred  acres,  part  of  it  not  far  from  Hampton  village  in 
Westmoreland.  Alex.  Parkman,  who  moved  into  that  town  in 
1790,  obtained  title  to  one  hundred  acres  from  Col.  Willett.  The 
latter  was  also  the  owner  of  two  thousand  acres,  known  as  "  Wil- 
lett's  patent,"  in  the  north  part  of  the  town  of  Steuben,  in  this 
county,  next  to  the  Ava  town  line;  he,  with  Elias  Van  Benscoten, 
owned  fifteen  hundred  acres  in  the  town  of  Ava,  next  north  of 
above  two  thousand  acre  tract,  and  called  "Willett's  small 
patent."  Col.  Willett  also  owned  lands  in  Bayard's  patent  and  in 


46  COL.    MAKINUS    WILLETT. 

Twenty  Township  tract,  Chenango  county,  hence,  it  is  evident 
Oneida  county  people  should  be  farther  attracted  and  drawn 
toward  one  who  was  largely  interested  in  lands  in  this  county 
and  vicinity  so  soon  after  the  revolution,  and  fourteen  years  be 
fore  Oneida  county  was  organized. 

Not  long  after  the  close  of  the  revolutionary  war,  and  probably 
within  the  last  decade  of  the  last  century,  Col.  Willett  purchased, 
for  a  homestead,  a  large  parcel  of  vacant  ground  in  what  is  now 
the  thirteenth  ward  of  New  York  city,  near  Corlear's  Hook,  ex 
tending  from  East  River  to  what  is  now  Wiilett  street  on  the  west. 
It  is  bounded  northerly  by  DeLancey  and  southerly  by  Broome 
street.  It  was  then  quite  out  of  the  city  and  far  into  the  suburbs. 
A  long  range  of  hills  loomed  up  between  that  purchase  and 
Broadway,  so  that  a  sight  of  the  then  seeming  busy  city  was  shut 
out  from  the  view,  and  a  long  space  of  vacant  ground  intervened 
and  had  to  be  traversed  before  schools,  churches  and  the  marts  of 
trade  were  reached  from  that  homestead.  The  land  toward  East 
River  was  shelving,  so  that  the  rushing  waters  made  frequent 
inroads  and  gradual  encroachments  upon  the  lower  portions,  to 
obviate  which  the  dirt  from  the  range  of  hills  in  front  was,  in  due 
time,  moved  to  the  rear  of  the  lot  next  to  the  river,  and  in  that 
way  the  waves  were  stayed  and  a  fine  water  frontage  created. 
To  improve  and  make  that  home  pleasant  and  attractive,  Col. 
Wiilett  expended  much  money  and  labor,  and  many  years  of  his 
life.  The  grounds  were  tastefully  laid  out  into  a  garden,  walks, 
carriageways  and  arbors,  with  fruit  and  shade  trees  planted  upon 
and  around  the  enclosure.  A  long  row  of  poplars  fringed  the 
garden  on  one  side,  while  cedar  and  other  evergreens  embellished 
or  shaded  the  walks  and  other  parts  of  the  grounds.  These  trees 
were  planted  some  years  before  the  present  century,  for  the  eldest 
son  alive  of  Col.  Willett,  now  eighty-seven,  writes  me  they  were 
full  grown  at  his  earliest  recollection.  Not  far  from  the  center  of 
those  grounds  the  owner  built  a  large,  commodious  and  roomy 
dwelling,  and  there,  for  over  a  quarter  of  a  century,  he  entertained 
his  numerous  visitors  and  callers,  with  a  welcome  and  a  generous 
hospitality,  that  no  one  knows  better,  if  so  well,  how  to  extend, 
than  an  army  officer  who  has  seen  much  of  the  world;  there  too,  he 
furnished  a  home  and  a  cordial  welcome  to  dependent  relatives,  to 
whom  he  was  all  that  the  most  kind  and  indulgent  parent  could 
be.  Although  not  a  millionaire,  yet  he  was  in  comfortable  cir 
cumstances,  kept  his  horses  and  carriage,  lived  generously  for 


ADDRESS    OF    D.    E.    WAGER.  4< 

those  times,  all  of  which  could  be  done  in  those  days  of  frugality 
and  simplicity,  on  an  income  of  five  or  six  thousand  dollars  a  year. 
One  day  last  summer  that  eldest  son  crossed  over  from  Jersey 
City  to  revisit" the  scenes  of  his  childhood,  that  he  might  give  a 
better  description  for  this  paper  prepared  in  memory  of  his  father, 
of  that  old  homestead  and  of  the  grounds  where  his  feet  rambled 
when  a  boy.  But  indeed  how  changed;  seven  or  eight  busy 
streets  now  cross  those  grounds,  while  the  site  of  the  garden,  the 
walks,  the  carriage-ways,  the  trees,  the  arbors,  is  now  occupied 
by  solid  brick  structures  like  Hoe's  Printing  Press  Works,  large 
Catholic  Church,  and  buildings  of  that  description;  yet  in  his 
mind's  eye  he  again  saw  the  home  as  it  was  early  in  the  present 
century,  the  long  range  of  hills,  over  which  he  climbed  on  his  way 
to  school,  the  play  ground,  the  boys  of  his  youth,  the  fruit  trees 
which  yielded  profusely,  the  large  favorite  cherry  tree,  capable  of 
holding  a  small  army  of  boys  upon  ^its  huge  and  wide  spreading 
branches,  stood  out  a  conspicuous  figure  as  he  looked  back  over 
the  vista  of  years;  many  an  afternoon  in  summer  at  the  close  of 
school,  a  hundred  boys  could  be  found  ensconced  in  that  generons 
tree,  partaking  of  its  seeming  inexhaustible  supply,  with  a  zest 
and  a  relish  that  no  one  can  enjoy  so  well  as  a  schoolboy.  He  of 
all  others,  in  that  great  city,  was  probably  the  only  survivor  who 
could  remember,  in  all  its  details,  those  grounds  as  they  were  years 
ago.  During  Col.  Willett's  residence  there  and  for  years  there 
after  that  old  homestead  was  widely  known  as  "Cedar  Grove"  or 
"The  Willett  Place." 

In  1783,  Col.  Willetfc  was  among  the  active  persons  who 
formed  the  Society  of  Cincinnati,  having  for  its  object 
the  promotion  of  brotherly  feeling  among  the  officers  who 
served  in  the  war  of  the  revolution.  When  LaFayette  visited 
this  country  in  1824,  he  was  the  only  surviving  major  general 
who  belonged  to  that  society,  so  too,  Col.  Willett  was  a  member  of 
the  Tammany  society,  formed  about  the  same  time,  more  for  the 
purpose,  however,  of  keeping  in  check  the  apprehended  tendency 
of  the  government  to  monarchy;  not  until  many  years  later,  did  it 
become  an  organization  to  promote  the  success  of  a  political  party. 

Col.  Willett  was  three  times  married.  The  first  marriage  was 
to  Mary  Pease  in  April,  1760,  before  he  was  quite  twenty  years  of 
age.  By  that  marriage  one  son  was  born,  who  became  a  noted 
surgeon  in  the  United  States  army,  and  who  died  unmarried. 
Unto  the  second  marriage  no  children  were  born.  The  third  wife 


48  COL.    MA  EmUS    WILLETT. 


was  Margaretta  Bancker,  married  not  far  from  1800;  by  her  he 
had  four  children.  The  eldest  son,  Marinus,  was  a  physician,  and 
married  and  had  children  ;  he  is  now  deceased.  William  M.  was 
the  second  son  by  that  marriage  ;  married  and  now  eighty-seven 
years  old,  and  living  in  Jersey  City,  a  retired  divine  of  the  Meth 
odist  Episcopal  Church  ;  was  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
General  Conference  in  1826;  later,  an  instructor  in  Hebrew  and 
Biblical  literature  in  Wesleyan  University  and  editor.  In  1843  he 
founded  the  Biblical  Institute  in  Vermont,  of  which  he  was  presi 
dent  until  1848.  Edward,  the  other  son,  is  a  lawyer  by  profession, 
now  eighty-six  years  old,  and  residing  at  Brook  Green,  S.  C.  The 
fourth  child  was  Margaretta,  who  married  James  H.  Ray  and  died 
years  ago.  The  widow  of  Col.  Willett  died  in  1867,  at  the  age  of 
ninety-six. 

Col.  Willett  was  tall,  erect,  commanding  figure,  finely  propor 
tioned,  with  the  air  and  build  of  a  military  man.  His  face  was 
handsome,  his  eyes  blue,  his  countenance  very  pleasing  and  at 
tractive,  and  his  manners  those  of  a  courteous  and  cultivated 
gentleman.  One  of  his  full  length  portraits,  taken  when  he  was 
thirty-five  years  old,  in  continental  uniform,  by  Trumbull,  is  now 
in  possession  of  his  youngest  son,  as  are  the  sword  and  hanger 
worn  by  Col.  Willett  during  the  war.  A  portrait  of  Col.  Willett 
is  shown  on  page  272  of  Lossing's  History  of  the  Empire  State. 
Col.  Willett  was  a  plain,  blunt  man,  outspoken,  perfectly  fearless, 
&  hater  of  all  shams  and  an  enthusiastic  patriot.  His  acquaintance 
and  correspondence  with  the  prominent  men  of  his  day  were  ex 
tensive.  His  son  has  dozens  of  letters  to  his  father  from  Governor 
Clinton,  Aaron  Burr,  LaFayette,  Lord  Stirling,  and  men  of  like 
character.  He  and  Burr  were  in  early  times  intimate  friends,  but 
after  the  duel  with  Hamilton,  and  Burr's  trial  for  treason,  they 
lived  to  meet  and  pass  each  other  on  the  street  without  recognition. 
Col.  Willett  admired  the  political  writings  of  Thomas  Paine,  but 
after  the  publication  of  "Paine's  Age  of  Reason"  his  works  were 
altogether  discarded  by  Willett.  He  was  a  faithful  attendant  at 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  (St.  Stephen's),  then  located  on 
Christie  street,  one  block  from  the  Bowery,  and  about  a  mile  from 
Col.  Willett's  residence. 

In  a  foot  note  in  Lossing's  Empire  State  it  is  stated  Col.  Willett 
graduated  from  King's,  now  Columbia  College.  This  may  admit 
of  some  doubt,  when  it  is  remembered  that  Col.  Willett  entered 
the  army  before  he  was  eighteen,  and  married  before  he  was 
twenty.  Nevertheless  he  was  a  person  of  unusually  strong  mind, 


ADDRESS    OF   D.    E.    WAGETC.  49 

strengthened  by  observation  and  extensive  reading.  His  corres 
pondence  and  official  army  reports  are  clear  and  marked  with 
accuracy  and  precision.  As  a  public  speaker  he  was  'a  model. 
The  fact  that  Col.  Gansevoort  deputed  him  to  reply  to  St.  Leger's 
demand  for  the  surrender  of  Fort  Stanwix,  indicates  that  his 
ability  in  that  line  was  recognized  by  the  commanding  officer. 
That  speech  deserves  a  place  in  every  history  and  rhetorical  school 
book  in  the  land,  alongside  of  Patrick  Henry's  "Give  me  liberty, 
or  give  me  death." 

Among  the  last  public  acts  of  Col.  Wiliett  were,  in  1824,  while 
acting  as  chairman  of  the  Greek  committee,  presidential  elector, 
and  welcoming  LaFayette.  During  the  last  few  years  of  his  life 
he  mingled  but  little  in  public  affairs  and  with  the  outside  world; 
surrounded  by  his  family  and  immediate  friends,  he  yielded 
slowly,  but  not  reluctantly,  to  the  gradual  progress  of  decay. 
He  had  outlived  his  generation,  and  passed  his  fourscore  years; 
his  mind  was  constantly  fixed  upon  the  approaching  change  with 
trust  and  entire  resignation;  with  the  greatest  humility,  but  at  the 
same  time  with  the  liveliest  feelings  of  piety.  A  few  months 
before  his  death  he  was  attacked  with  paralysis,  from  which  he 
recovered ;  yet  his  body  and  constitution  were  much  enfeebled  by 
the  stroke;  medicine  had  to  be  frequently  resorted  to;  the 
absence  of  his  regular  physician,  in  one  of  his  attacks,  induced 
him  to  neglect  the  usual  remedies,  and  he  was  so  severely  attacked 
that  his  strength  wasted  rapidly  away. 

On  Sunday,  August  22,  1830,  the  fifty-third  anniversary  of  the 
abandonment  of  the  siege  of  Fort  Stanwix,  Col.  Wiliett  passed 
peacefully  away— twenty-two  days  past  his  ninetieth  birthday. 

It  is  related,  that  as  the  shadows  of  death  were  curtaining  the 
earthly  vision  of  Stonewall  Jackson,  he,  in  the  delirium  ot  his  dy 
ing,  Was  again  in  the  roar  of  battle,  and  amid  the  clangor  of  arms, 
and  called  out— "Order  A.  P.  Hill  to  prepare  for  action.  Pass 
the  infantry  to  the  front  rapidly.  Tell  Major  Hawkes"— then  he 
stopped,  leaving  the  sentence  unfinished.  Presently  a  smile  of  in 
effable  sweetness  spre.id  itself  over  his  wan  face,  "as  if  his  soul 
had  seen  a  vision,"  and  then  he  said  calmly  and  quietly,  "  let  us 
cross  over  the  river,  and  rest  under  the  shade  of  the  trees;"  then 
without  pain  or  a  struggle,  his  spirit  passed  peacefully  away.  Col. 
Wiliett  had  boon  amid  scenes  of  carnage  and  bloodshed;  he  had 
lived  in  turbulent  times,  and  been  exposed  to  innumerable  perils; 
he  had  braved  dangers,  faced  death,  escaped  the  hissing  bullet, 
the  poisoned  arrow,  the  glittering  tomahawk,  and  the  murderous 


50  COL.    MABINUS    WILLETT. 

scalping  knife,  and  survived  to  the  grand  old  age  of  90,  to  receive 
the  homage  and  plaudits  of  a  grateful  people,  and  to  die  at  last 
surrounded  by  his  family  and  friends.     He  too,  crossed  over  the 
river,  and  rested*  under  the  shade  of  the  trees.     His  death  cast  a 
deep  gloom  over  the  whole  city,  and  called  forth  deep  and  heart 
felt  expressions  of  sorrow.     The  Common  Council  of  New  York, 
the  Court  of  Errors,  then   in  session  in  that   city,  the  society  of 
Cincinnati,  and  other  public  bodies  passed  suitable  resolutions,  and 
resolved  to  attend  his  funeral  in  a  body.     The  military  of  the  city 
directed  that  appropriate  honors  should  be  paid  at  the  interment, 
and  that  minute  guns  should  be  fired,  corresponding  with  his  age. 
The  public  journals   of  the  day,  not  in   New  York  alone,  but 
throughout  the  country,  paid  handsome  and  well-deserved  tributes 
to  his  memory.     The  remains   were  enclosed   in   a  cedar  coffin, 
which  the  deceased  had  prepared  ten  years  before ;  at  his  own  re 
quest  the  body  was  habitated  in  his  ordinary  dress  and  with  his 
hat  on,  as  he  was  accustomed  to  be  seen  in  the  street.     The  coffined 
remains  were  placed  in  an  arbor  upon  the  grounds  of  the  old 
homestead  on  the  day  of  the  funeral,  that  all  who  chose    might 
take  a  farewell  look.      It   was  estimated  that  over  ten  thousand 
persons  availed  themselves  of  the  opportunity.     The  funeral  took 
place  in  the  afternoon  of  Tuesday,  August  24,  at  which  officiated 
Rev.  Dr.  DeVVitt,  a  son  of  an  old  officer  of  the  revolution  under 
Col.  Willett.     The  procession  started  at  4  p.  M.  for  the  place  of 
burial,  and  it  extended  from  Broome  street  to  Trinity  Church  yard, 
where  the  remains  were  to  be  interred.     It  was  after  dark  before 
the  grave  was  reached  and  by  the  light  of   torches  all   that   wis 
earthly  of  Cd.  Marinus  Willett  was  lowered  to  his  last  resting 
place  amid  the  firing  of  guns,  the  strains  of  martial  music  and  the 
sorrows  of  millions  of  his  admiring  countrymen. 

Other  heroes  of  the  revolution  may  stand  out  more  prominent 
ly  on  the  pages  of  recorded  history;  other  namas  may  be  perpet 
uated  in  poetry  and  song,  in  flowing  numbers  and  in  brighter  colors ; 
other  men  may  be  kept  alive  in  the  world's  remembrance  by 
lettered  inscriptions  of  their  heroic  deeds  emblazoned  upon  chis 
eled  marble  or  sculptured  monuments,  but  none  who  lived  in  the 
trying  and  troublous  times  of  Col.  Willett  more  faithfully  or 
efficiently  than  he,  and  certainly  none  within  the  county  of  Tryon, 
performed  the  important  work  assigned  to  him,  which  in  the  re 
sult  worked  out  the  grand  problem  of  his  country's  destiny.  He 
was  a  fearless  leader,  an  enthusiastic  patriot,  a  worthy  citizen  and 
an  uncompromising  friend  of  the  rights  of  man. 


14  DAY  USE 

!TURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 
LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


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UNIV.  OF  CAL.-F 

HDD.  GiiiC3V29  77 

t  General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


Pamphlet 

Binder 
Gaylord  Bros.,  Inc. 

Stockton,  Calif. 
T.  M.  Reg.  U.S.  Pat.  Off. 


12295 


M531524 


